Something
by Tess84
Summary: Sequel to "Everything". After a worried call from Jenna, Elena discovers that Jeremy and Anna have dropped out of college and disappeared without a word. What's happened to them, how will Elena handle it and can Damon help her deal? Delena.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This story is a sequel to my other story **_**Everything **_**and takes place about two years after the events of that story. You might want to read that first, since it goes AU in the season one episode **_**Miss Mystic Falls**_**.**** After a worried call from Jenna, Elena discovers that Jeremy and Anna have dropped out of college and disappeared without a word. What's happened to them, how will Elena handle it and can Damon help her deal?**

**Wow, I got so much amazing feedback on the last chapter of **_**Everything**_** – you guys are so amazing! I hope many of you follow me into this new story and I look forward to sharing this adventure with you. As always, a big thanks to my beta, sunshine2006578, who has also helped me out with the title of this story (I suck at titles!).  
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**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**Chapter one**

"Elena! Hey, Elena, wait up!"

Elena turned at the sound of her name and spotted her friend Alison half-jogging towards her across the lawn, all out of breath.

"Take it easy," she called back, laughing. "Don't give yourself a heart attack!"

Alison stopped in front of her, taking a couple of deep breaths and clutching a stitch in her side. "Are you coming to the party at Delta Kappa tonight?" she asked when she had started breathing somewhat normally again. "It's gonna be totally great. Lots of hot guys, beer and did I mention hot guys? Not that _you_ need any help in _that_ department."

"Sorry, Ali, I can't," Elena replied. "I have plans with Damon."

A smile spread on Alison's face. "Bring him. I'm sure nobody will mind … well, at least none of the girls. And the Delta Kappa boys are always so full of themselves; they could use a reality check. They might be nice to look at, but most of them are the 'I know how hot I am, look at me' type, which, you know, total turnoff."

Elena rolled her eyes; Alison had made the fact that she thought Damon was hot _very_ clear the first time she had met him. At first, Elena had found it a little disconcerting, but now she didn't think much of it, it was just Alison's way; if she thought a guy was good looking, she would say it. Usually out loud and to the guy in question. Some people might find that obnoxious and intrusive, but Elena actually kind of liked it. You never had to wonder where you stood with Alison or what she thought about something since she would always let you know.

She had met Alison Marshall on orientation day, a little over a year ago now, and despite being about as different as two people could get physically – Alison was six inches shorter than Elena, twenty pounds heavier and sported a spiky hairdo that had gone from green via red and turquoise to purple, several piercings and two tattoos – they had immediately hit it off. This year, they had a couple of classes together and were living in the same dorm, though not in the same room. They had agreed that trying to be roommates would just put their friendship in unnecessary danger. While Elena was no neat freak, she had been to Alison's dorm room enough times to know that she would go crazy after just a couple of days if she had to live in the mess that her friend kept, and Alison felt the same way about Elena's tidy room.

"It's our two-year anniversary, and I don't think he'd be too thrilled about spending it at a fraternity kegger," she explained. "Come to think of it, neither would I." The parties at Delta Kappa had a tendency to get out of control. The last one she had let Alison convince her to go to had been shut down by the police, fortunately after she had left.

"Party pooper!" Alison complained, sticking her tongue out and showing off the glittering, red stone adorning it.

"Today, yes." Elena hoisted her book bag up on her shoulder and checked her watch. "And right now I really need to get going, I have less than an hour to get ready before he's picking me up."

"Oh, fine." Alison pouted. "Go spend time with your hot boyfriend, don't think about me."

Elena laughed. "Funny, that was _exactly_ what I was planning on doing!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll just go to the party all by my lonesome and _try_ to have a good time," Alison said, winking so that Elena knew that she wasn't serious. Besides, Alison always managed to have fun at parties, no matter where she was or who she was with. "See you in class tomorrow, right? As long as you're not too exhausted from all the anniversary sex, of course. In which case, you know, just send me a text, I'd be happy to take notes for you." The smile on her face could only be described as mischievous.

Elena chose to ignore the comment about 'anniversary sex'; Alison's direct ways when it came to her own and everyone else's sex life were something else that she had learned not to think too much about in the past year.

"Bye, Ali."

Continuing on her way, she soon reached the house in Crowell Quad where her dorm room was. Every time she entered the building, she couldn't help but look up at the large clock tower over the entrance and marvel at the fact that she had actually managed to get a room in her favorite building on the entire campus.

When she arrived at Duke last fall, it had seemed so intimidating. Sure, Damon and Jenna had been with her, but still. She had never lived anywhere but her own house in Mystic Falls, with her family and friends, and moving to a completely new town where she didn't know anyone had been a little scary. Now, she felt right at home and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. No, that wasn't true … Damon's apartment a few blocks from campus – he had moved down to Durham at the end of her first semester at Duke when they had come to the conclusion that neither of them wanted to spend the necessary time commuting to be able to see each other only on weekends – was amazing, and she could definitely see herself living there. He hadn't suggested that she move in yet, knowing that she wanted to get the whole college experience, but she had actually started thinking about it herself. She had lived in the dorms for three semesters soon and had almost come to the decision that she was going to suggest that maybe she could move in with him after the Christmas break. She already spent at least every other night at his place, after all, so it made sense.

Having lived in the dorm for a little over a month now, she was familiar with the building, and didn't need to think about where she was going. Wrapped up in thoughts of what Damon might have planned for tonight – he had refused to give her any clues except for telling her to 'dress up', which she had tried to explain wasn't really helpful at all – she quickly climbed the stairs to the third floor and entered her room, which was located at the end of a hallway. Her roommate, Brittany, wasn't in, and she was grateful; they didn't really get along very well. Brittany was at college for the parties and thought that homework and tests only got in the way of her social life and, while Elena didn't exactly spend every Friday and Saturday night studying, she didn't appreciate it when the party moved into her room at four in the morning. This, of course, was one of the reasons she had stayed at Damon's place a lot since school started.

Gathering her bathroom things, she went to take a shower. That was one thing she wasn't going to miss about living in the dorms, she mused. Communal showers.

When she got back to her room, she saw that she had a missed call on her cell phone. Jenna. She quickly pulled on the dress that she had picked out for the evening – a black, strapless one that was really the only dress she owned that could be called _dressy_ while not giving the impression that she was going to her high school prom – and then called her aunt.

"_Hello?"_ Alaric answered the phone after two rings. Earlier that year, when Jeremy had gone off to college as well, Rick had moved in with Jenna, who had complained that the house was too big and lonely for just one person. They had gotten engaged earlier that summer and were planning on a July wedding next year.

"Rick, hi, it's Elena. Is Jenna there? She called me a little while ago." Multitasking, Elena held her phone to her ear with her shoulder and started on her make-up.

"_Hey Elena. Yeah, she's right here, hang on."_

"Thanks."

"_Elena?"_ Jenna's voice came over the line after just a moment. _"Good, you're there."_

The relief in her aunt's voice was obvious and made Elena frown. Was something going on? "What's up? I was in the shower when you called."

"_Have you heard from Jeremy?"_

"Not in …" Elena thought for a moment, trying to remember the last time she had spoken to her brother, "… a couple of days, why?" It was probably closer to a week but, somehow, she didn't think that mentioning that to Jenna was a good idea.

During his last year of high school, Jeremy had worked a lot on his drawings and had gotten into the Arts program at UCLA. After graduation that spring he and Anna, who had been accepted to the same school, had moved to Los Angeles and, as far as Elena knew, they both loved it there.

"_I haven't heard from him since last week and I've tried calling him for a couple of days now, but I can't get a hold of him,"_ Jenna explained, sounding worried.

"He's probably just really busy with school," Elena tried to reason. "The first semester freshman year can be insanely hectic, remember? He'll probably call in a few days and apologize for not picking up when you've called."

"_I know, and maybe he will, but it's not that he doesn't pick up the phone. The number's been disconnected."_

That brought Elena up short. Why would Jeremy's phone number be disconnected? "Are you sure you're calling the right number?" she asked, even if she was convinced that Jenna would have checked and double-checked that before even considering calling her.

"_Of course I'm sure!"_ Jenna started sounding even more worried.

"OK, sorry." Elena tried to think quickly. "Maybe he lost his phone and had to get a new number and forgot to tell us?" she suggested, though not really believing it herself. Jeremy might not be the kind of person who called every day to check in, but he wouldn't forget something as important as that, Elena was sure of it.

"_Maybe …"_ Jenna agreed doubtfully, sounding like she wanted to believe it but couldn't quite convince herself.

"OK, this is what we're gonna do," Elena said, taking charge of the situation. "I'm going to try to call him too, and if I can't get a hold of him, I'll try Anna, OK?"

"_Anna, why didn't I think of that?"_ Jenna exclaimed. _"I should have called her before I bothered you!"_

"You didn't bother me, Aunt Jenna, don't be silly. And, please, try not to worry. I'm sure there's just some sort of misunderstanding or something. I'll call you as soon as I know anything, OK?"

"_OK, sweetie,"_ Jenna replied, sounding relieved. _"Thank you."_

"Of course. I'll talk to you soon."

Abandoning her not even half-done make-up, Elena found Jeremy's number in her phonebook and called it. But, just like Jenna had said, she only got a recorded message telling her that the number had been disconnected at the subscriber's request. Hanging up, she called Anna instead. When the same message started playing again, she felt her insides turn to ice.

Both Jeremy and Anna's phones being disconnected couldn't be a coincidence, but she instinctively shied away from the first explanation that insisted on popping up in her mind. No. There had to be some other reason, something else going on.

She sat down at her desk and turned her computer on, impatiently tapping her fingers against the wood as the machine buzzed to life. When she could finally open an internet browser, she quickly found the UCLA website and a number to the Administrations' office there.

"_UCLA Administrations' office, how may I help you?"_ a bored voice, which Elena wasn't sure if it belonged to a man or a woman, greeted her.

"Yes, hi, my name is Elena Gilbert. My brother, Jeremy Gilbert, is a student at UCLA, and I can't get a hold of him or his girlfriend. I'm starting to worry that something might have happened to them, and I was hoping that you might be able to help me."

There was a long sigh. _"He's probably just really busy or something, I'm sure you know what college life is like. And we have better things to do than help family members contact students just because they're not answering the phone."_

"You don't understand!" Elena exclaimed, getting up and starting to pace the room, unable to stand still. "My aunt's been trying to call him for days, and both his and his girlfriend's phones have been disconnected."

Another, if possible even more bored, sigh came over the line. _"Maybe they couldn't pay the bills and were too embarrassed to call home for money or something. Anyway, I can't help you. Goodbye."_

"Wait!" Elena yelled, being rewarded with a third sigh. "Do you want me to call the police and tell them that you've neglected to report two of your students missing? Because I will. And I'm sure the school doesn't want a bunch of cops running around campus. Can't be good for your reputation."

Her threat hit home. _"What do you want me to do?" _the person asked, now sounding more annoyed than bored.

"Can you just send someone over to their dorm rooms to make sure they're OK? My aunt and I both live on the East Coast, or we would come there ourselves."

"_Fine, I'll ask the RA in their building to check up on them. What did you say that their names were again?"_

"Jeremy Gilbert and Anna Johnson."

There were clicking sounds in the background for a moment, then the person came back on the line. _"Are you trying to be funny? Is this some sort of prank call?"_

Elena frowned. "What? No, of course not!"

"_Because both these students dropped out last week. It's not that uncommon, you know, that freshmen can't handle the pressure of being in college. And since someone else was paying your brother's tuition, that person was notified."_ The voice was defensive now. _"Those are the rules, we have to notify the one who pays the tuition when someone drops out, even if the student is over eighteen."_

Feeling like her legs couldn't carry her anymore, Elena dropped down on her bed. "Thank you," she said weakly, hanging up the phone and letting it fall to the bed.

She had known that this would happen, eventually. Really, she had. Ever since she had found that vial of blood in Jeremy's drawer almost two and a half years ago. But it wasn't something she had thought would happen this soon. And also, she had expected some sort of heads-up. She had thought that Jeremy would talk to her before he made this decision. But maybe he had been worried that she wouldn't understand, that she'd try to stop him.

Desperately needing some sort of assurance that went beyond the bored man or woman in the Administrations' office, she flipped through her phonebook, hands trembling, looking for another number. She was about to hit 'Call' when there was a knock on the door.

Slightly disoriented after the disturbing conversation, she got up from the bed and went to open the door. When she saw Damon in the hallway she couldn't for the life of her remember why he was there.

He was wearing his usual smile-slash-smirk when she opened the door, but when he saw the expression on her face, he frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, leading her into the room and closing the door behind them. "I mean, the dress looks amazing, but even I can see that those slippers don't really go with it. Unless you're trying to make some sort of fashion statement, which I would totally support."

Absentmindedly, Elena glanced down at her feet and realized that she was still wearing her pink, fluffy slippers.

"Jenna just called," she started, voice shaking a little. "She said that Jeremy's phone has been disconnected, so I offered to try to call him. I guess I thought that maybe she had messed the number up or something. But it has, Anna's too. So I called the Administrations' office at UCLA, and they both dropped out of school last week."

She could tell that he immediately realized what must have happened and wanted to tell him that no, Jeremy wouldn't do that, not without talking to her first. But the words wouldn't come, because, somewhere, she knew what was going on and also because if she said it out loud, it would be true. And she didn't want it to be.

"It'll be OK," he said, pulling her into an embrace.

"I knew that this was going to happen," she mumbled against his shoulder, hugging him back as hard as she could. "But I didn't think it would be so soon, not now. I haven't had time to prepare myself for something like this."

"Shh, it'll be OK," he repeated, rubbing her back in soothing motions.

"Why wouldn't he talk to me before he did this?" Elena asked, pulling away from him. "Did he think that I wouldn't understand? How could he think that, of course I would!"

Damon shook his head, not knowing how Jeremy had been thinking. "Maybe he was just worried that you'd try to talk him out of it?" he suggested. "I mean, the one time that you two talked about it, you made it pretty clear what you thought."

Would she have tried to get him to reconsider? Elena couldn't be sure. Yes, she understood why Jeremy would want this, but would she still have tried to convince him to put it off, just for a couple of years? He was only eighteen, after all, so maybe.

"It's been a long time since we talked about it, things are different now, I know that. He could have talked to me," she insisted.

"I know." Damon nodded.

Something else occurred to Elena. "What am I going to tell Jenna?" she asked, giving him a pleading look.

Damon looked like he had hoped that this question wouldn't come up.

"He's obviously made the decision to stay away after the … transformation," he said, thinking out loud. "I mean, if he just didn't want you to know until after, he would have called you or something by now, if it's been a week."

Elena nodded, biting her lip. "I can't tell her the truth … can I?"

"That's really not my decision."

"No, I can't tell her the truth." She thought for a moment. "Can I just tell her that I've talked to Jeremy and that everything is fine, but that he's really busy right now?"

"And how long do you think you'll be able to keep that charade up?" he questioned dryly. "Thanksgiving? Christmas? Sooner or later, she'll figure out that something's going on, she's not stupid. Or did you want me to call her and impersonate Jeremy or something? I mean, I suppose I could try, but …"

"So what then?" Elena interrupted him, the sarcasm in his voice telling her that he wasn't really serious. "Do I just tell her that he's disappeared, that he's missing?"

Damon took her hand in his, squeezing it. "Maybe that's for the best. A clean break for Jenna. At least it seems like Jeremy thought so."

"I don't know if I can." She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I mean, she'll call the police, have them search for him."

He hesitated for a moment, not sure if it was a good idea to say what he was thinking. "Anna's not some rookie, she's been around even longer than I have," he then said. "I'm sure she knows how to cover her tracks when she wants to. I doubt they'll be found if they don't want to be."

She just stared at him for a moment. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she snapped.

"That's the way it _is_," he insisted. "I'm sorry if you think that I'm too harsh on you, but …"

"No, don't apologize," she interrupted him, slumping down on the bed. "I'm sorry, this isn't your fault and I'm taking it out on you."

"That's OK," he told her, wiping away a lone tear that had escaped and was making its way down her cheek. "Take it out on me all you want. Yell, throw things, hit me, whatever you want. I can take it. Come on. Take your best shot." He raised his hands in front of his face in a boxer pose and Elena couldn't help but smile, if only for a moment.

"How could he do something like this, how could he just … disappear?"

"I don't know." Damon sat down next to her on the bed, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. "I don't know. Maybe he thought it was the best way."

"There has to be a better way," she insisted.

"He obviously didn't think so."

"There _has_ to be a better way," she repeated, and he realized that they weren't talking about Jeremy and Anna anymore.

"I'm sure there is," he assured her, trying to hide the overwhelming elation he felt at hearing her say something like that. "Don't worry, we'll find it."

"Thank you."

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**AN: Well, there it is, the first chapter. What did you think? I know, not that much Damon-y comments, but I figured with Elena upset like that he'd probably try to be a bit more serious than he usually is. Don't worry, there'll be more Damon to be had in the rest of this story. I was originally planning on this being a one-shot, with pretty much this chapter - Elena's conversation with Jenna, finding out about Jeremy and then Elena and Damon's talk - and have it be a sort of prologue to the second sequel I'm thinking about, but then I started writing and, as usual, the story got away with me. So, if you guys liked it, let me know and I'll keep going!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Great response on the first chapter of this story, guys: 12 favs, 35 alerts and 17 reviews, keep it up! A little more Delena in this chapter, I know some of you asked for that in the reviews. The story is M-rated for a reason, after all … Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and lots of hugs to my beta sunshine2006578. Now, without further ado, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**Chapter two**

Elena relaxed into Damon's embrace and, for a long moment, they just sat there on the bed, in silence.

"Who were you going to call when I got here?" he then asked, pulling away from her a little, and she realized that she still had her phone in her hand.

"Stefan," she replied. "He's already in California so I figure he can get to LA faster than I can and I thought he could go down there, see if Jeremy left a note or something in his room. I still can't believe that he would just take off like this without at least leaving me some sort of message so that I would know that he's OK."

Stefan was still in San Francisco, having started to enjoy life in the City by the Bay. He and Damon had gotten much closer in the past two years – even if neither of them would use those exact words – and got together on a somewhat regular basis these days, having what Elena called 'guy-weekends'. Elena and Stefan had managed to work their way back to being friends and usually talked to each other at least once a week. Stefan had even come to her high school graduation – though things had still been a little strained between him and Damon back then – and she and Damon had gone to San Francisco to visit him for two weeks at the beginning of August. While he hadn't started dating anyone – at least not as far as either of them knew – he had clearly moved on and didn't seem bothered by being around his brother and former girlfriend at all these days, something that Elena and Damon were grateful for.

"That's probably a good idea," Damon agreed. "Stefan to the rescue!"

"Yeah." Elena nodded, ignoring the slightly sarcastic remark about superheroes. "I need to at least be absolutely sure what's going on before I tell Jenna anything. I don't wanna come up with some story only to find out that Jeremy and Anna are just taking the very long way back to Mystic Falls."

"What, like via Canada or something? You know that's not very likely. And don't you think Jenna's expecting you to call her tonight?" he wondered doubtfully. "She's probably already sitting by the phone, you know."

Elena knew that he was most likely right. "Maybe. But I'll just have to dodge her calls."

She moved away from him a little, sliding onto the centre of the bed and pulling her legs up underneath her. Still needing the physical contact, though, she reached out and laced her fingers with his as she waited for Stefan to pick up the phone on the other side of the country. Squeezing her hand, Damon gave her an encouraging smile.

Stefan answered after a couple of rings. _"Hello?"_

"Hey, it's me."

"_Elena, hi. What's up? Aren't you supposed to be at Vin Rouge about now?"_

"I knew that you knew where he was taking me!" she exclaimed, for a moment forgetting why she had called him. For weeks, she had tried to get Stefan to tell her what Damon had planned for their anniversary date but, even though she was sure that he knew, he had stubbornly claimed that he had no idea. "I knew that he had told you where we were going! I can't believe you didn't say anything, I thought we were supposed to be friends."

Damon sighed and rolled his eyes next to her and Stefan laughed on the other end of the line. _"Yes, fine, you got me. He did tell me what he was planning. But I think brother actually trumps friend, so don't expect me to spill the beans on anything like this in the future either. Besides, he's much scarier than you are. Was that why you called, to give me grief about not telling you?"_

The question abruptly brought Elena back to the present situation. "No, actually. I need a favor."

He must have noticed the change in tone because he immediately sounded more serious too. _"Anything, you know that."_

"Can you get to Los Angeles tonight?" she asked, knowing that he would do everything he could to get there if she asked him.

"_Of course. I don't know if there are any flights, but I can drive."_

"No," she objected. Even if he did drive to LA and completely disregarded the speed limits the entire way, he wouldn't be there until closer to midnight and would have to wait until morning to get into Jeremy's dorm room anyway. "If there aren't any flights tonight, go tomorrow morning instead. I'll pay for the ticket and any other expenses, of course, just let me know how much you had to spend."

"_Don't be ridiculous,"_ he disregarded her offer. _"But I'll wait until tomorrow if there aren't any flights out of here tonight."_

"Thank you." She relaxed a little.

"_Is something wrong?"_ he asked hesitantly.

"I hope not," she replied. "But I think so. It's Jeremy, he's …" She got a lump in her throat and swallowed hard, but still couldn't get the words out. Damon held his hand out for the phone and she gratefully handed it to him.

"Hello little brother."

"_What's going on?"_ Stefan demanded. _"Elena sounded like she was about to start crying."_

"Yeah, she's a bit torn up right now," Damon told him.

"_Why, what's wrong? Did something happen to her, did she get hurt? No, she said something about Jeremy … did something happen to _him_?" _

"Elena's fine, don't worry," Damon assured him. "But Jeremy apparently dropped out of school last week, only he's failed to mention it to anyone, and now both his and Anna's phones have been disconnected and they haven't been in touch for about a week. And, by all means, feel free to jump to conclusions."

Stefan was silent for a moment. _"And Elena's worried that he's asked Anna to turn him and that that's why they've fallen off the grid."_ It wasn't so much a question as a statement.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what we think has happened," Damon confirmed. "But Elena wants to make absolutely sure before telling Jenna anything. And that, of course, is where you come into the picture. I knew it would be handy at some point, having you over there in California."

"_So she wants me to go to the school, see if I can find something out?"_ Stefan assumed. _"I doubt I'll find anything. I mean, if he wanted to tell Elena, he could have just called her, right?"_

"I know. But still, could you just check out his dorm room, see if he's left a note or something?" Damon asked, despite the fact that he too was pretty sure that there would be nothing like that. Like Stefan had said, Jeremy could have just called Elena if he wanted to let her know what was going on. And, if he and Anna wanted to disappear, they would do it properly, not leave a forwarding address. At least that's what he would do himself, and he was pretty sure that Anna's reasoning would be similar to his own.

"_OK. But what are you going to tell Jenna? Not the truth, right?"_

"Yes, we thought it might be fun to open _that_ can of worms when she's already upset about her nephew being MIA," Damon replied dryly. "No, we're just going to tell her that Jeremy's disappeared, hope she'll buy it."

"_Are you sure that's a good idea?"_ Stefan questioned doubtfully.

"No, of course not. I know that it's not an ideal solution, but this is the situation that we have to deal with, and I just don't know …" Damon trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"_OK, you help Elena figure out what to tell Jenna, and I'll get a flight to LA as soon as I can. If I leave tonight, I should be able to catch Jeremy's roommate before he goes to class tomorrow,"_ Stefan concluded. _"Just text me any info I might need, like what dorm Jeremy's in and his room number."_

"OK, I will, thank you." Damon let out a relieved breath. "Knew I could count on you, baby brother.

"_No problem. And don't call me that."_

"And now that you've asked me not to, I will of course be using _that_ nick name every time I talk to you. Call _me_ when you've been there, OK?" Damon stressed the word 'me', wanting to be able to edit in case Stefan discovered something that might upset Elena even more.

"_I will, don't worry."_

"Bye."

Elena had been watching him while he was talking and when he hung up she looked at him expectantly.

"He'll see if he can get a late flight down to LA, go to Jeremy's dorm room early tomorrow morning and try to catch his roommate before he leaves for class," he summarized the conversation. "Though, knowing college kids, he might not have to hurry. Most of them don't even get out of bed until after noon."

"OK." Elena nodded, knowing that it was really the only thing they could do right now. Still, she felt like she should be doing _something_ other than just sit around waiting for Stefan to call.

"Do you want to …" Damon started, but was interrupted by the door bursting open and Brittany coming into the room with three of her friends, all of them laughing loudly.

"Oh, you're here," she said disappointedly when she spotted Elena and Damon. "We'll just go somewhere else, no problem."

"No, that's OK," Elena said quickly, getting up from the bed and pulling Damon along. "We were actually just leaving, so you stay."

"Great!"

Elena hurried to pull on a pair of leather boots and her jacket, then she and Damon left the room.

"Do you still want to go to the restaurant?" he finished what he had started to say earlier when they had left the building. "The reservation was for ten minutes ago, but I'm sure we can still get our table if you want. You have to eat, after all."

Elena shook her head, the mere thought of going to a crowded restaurant making her stomach turn. "Can we just go back to your place and watch a movie or something? I really don't feel like going out right now. I'm sorry, I know that you were looking forward to tonight."

"Of course we can, don't worry about it. And I don't care where we go or what we do, as long as I get to spend tonight with you. Come on." He grabbed her hand and led her towards the parking lot and his car. "Do you want to stop at Blockbusters and rent something? I'm all out of chick flicks at the moment, since you took yours home the other week. All I have is action movies with lots of fighting and blood and stuff. Of course, you might be in the mood for that. Live vicariously through the fighting scenes, let off some steam. Or we could stop by that martial arts place down the street from my apartment, do some _actual_ fighting. I know from personal experience how satisfying it can be to punch some … thing when you're upset. Your call."

"OK, we can stop at the video store," she agreed, not even smiling a little at his joke, and he sighed. It would apparently take a lot to get her mind off things tonight, which of course wasn't that odd. But he would succeed, no matter what he had to do.

At Blockbusters, Damon deliberately headed straight to the comedy section and Elena realized that he was hoping to distract her with a funny movie. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't work, but still let him rent the latest comedies.

When they got to his apartment, he ordered Indian food from her favorite take-out restaurant and made a fire in the large fireplace in the living room.

"Sit," he ordered her, and she obediently sat down on the comfortable couch. "That's a good girl."

"I'm not a dog," she complained.

He ignored her, turning the television on and starting the first movie.

At the end of the night, Elena had no idea what either of the movies had been about or how the food had tasted. Jenna had called twice, but she hadn't picked up either time and hadn't listened to the messages her aunt had left, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from calling her back if she did. Stefan had called at ten, saying that his flight was leaving San Francisco a little before eleven and that he was going to get some sleep at LAX after landing in Los Angeles. Knowing that he was on his way down there made Elena feel a little better at least, like she was doing _something_ to find her brother.

While she brushed her teeth, her thoughts kept going back to Jeremy and she wondered where he was, what he was doing. Had he already changed? Was he right at this moment trying to adapt to his new 'life', trying to resist the urge to hunt down people in the street? Or had he decided to go with the 'traditional' vampire diet? She knew that Anna had only been feeding on bagged blood, just like Damon, in the past few years, but maybe now that Jeremy was like her, she had gone back to her old eating habits? There were just so many questions that Elena couldn't get any answers to, it felt like her head was going to explode from being too crowded.

"Do you think you'll be able to sleep?" Damon asked when she came into the bedroom.

"I don't know," she replied honestly, pulling her sweatshirt over her head. She had changed into some comfy clothes that she kept at Damon's place when they got there, not feeling overly comfortable in her fancy dress.

"Try," he said, coming over to her and kissing her lightly on the lips. "You need to rest. If you want, I can make some calls, see if I can get hold of some nice pharmaceuticals to give you a hand."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "I didn't know you had connections in the drug world of Durham," she said, not sure if she should take him seriously or not.

"Or I could always knock you out," he continued, not addressing the drug dealer issue. "It might not _technically_ be sleep, but you'll be out of it for a while so it probably has the same effect."

"Funny." She removed her tank top as well, and then her sweatpants, until she was standing in front of him in nothing but her underwear. She could see his eyes widen as they traveled down her body and back up, hear his breathing become a little faster. The fact that she could still, so easily, affect him this way made a thrill run through her. She took a slow, deliberate step closer to him, biting her lip and looking up at him through her lashes. "Distract me," she mumbled, pulling his t-shirt out of his jeans and running her hands up his stomach to his chest, her touch feather light, something she knew always drove him crazy.

"Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?" he asked a little breathlessly, but his hands contradicted his words, sliding up her back and pulling her closer to him. "You're still upset about Jeremy, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I took advantage of you in your weakened state?"

"I know what I want, and you won't be taking advantage of me." She reached up and kissed him, slowly, letting her tongue slide along his bottom lip, tasting him. "I want you. I need you," she murmured against his lips, pressing her body against his.

Maybe he should have said no, stopped her. But he couldn't refuse her anything, and even less now that she was clearly upset. Also, it would take a man much stronger than him to say no to a beautiful, half-naked woman asking him to make love to her.

Determinedly, she pulled his t-shirt over his head, quickly recapturing his lips when the piece of clothing was out of the way. Her fingers traced his stomach and chest, up and down, a few times before she undid the button in his jeans and pulled the zipper down.

"Off!" she commanded, and he obediently did as she said, letting her be in charge since he understood that she needed to feel like she was in control of _something_.

When his jeans had come off, she pushed him backwards, towards the bed. His knees hit the side of the bed before he was prepared, and he fell onto the mattress, landing on his back. Elena took advantage of this, tugging his boxers down before she pulled off her own panties and climbed on top of him. He made to wrap his arms around her, but she pushed him back, pinning his hands to the bed. He could have easily gotten the upper hand, of course, but he didn't.

She leaned forward, letting her hair tickle his chest, and kissed him. He could feel the hunger, the desperation, in her lips against his and tried to return the sentiment. She released her hold on him and he slid one hand up her arm, over her shoulder and up her neck to tangle in her hair, holding her to him. With the other, he unhooked her bra and she threw it to the side, moving a little on the bed so that her entire body was pressed against his.

They kissed and touched like that for a long time, slowly, letting their bodies react to the other's. Elena could feel the tension start to build up inside her and she wanted more, needed _more_. He was already hard against her hip, and she moved a little so that she could wrap her hand around him. He pulled his lips away from hers at the contact, drawing in a deep breath, and she moved her mouth to his neck as she started sliding her hand up and down around him.

She could hear his breathing speed up as she continued down his chest, kissing every inch of his upper body. Releasing her grip on him, she let one nail graze the sensitive skin. In a flash, she was on her back and he was hovering above her.

"Don't … do … that," he said hoarsely, ending each word with a kiss, first to her left shoulder, then her right, then her lips.

"Sorry," she mumbled, not able to resist smiling at the fact that she had managed to rile him up so much.

"Now …" he started, a slightly evil smile tugging on the corners of his mouth, "… it's your turn."

He kissed her again, then moved to her neck, making her skin burn everywhere he touched her. She let everything else, every thought, every worry, slip away and focused only on the way his lips felt against her skin. His tongue came out to circle her nipple, and she gasped, arching her back against him, wanting him closer. In response, he slid one finger inside her, fueling the fire that was already burning in her veins. But it wasn't enough.

"Don't …" she managed to get out. "I want …"

"What do you want, baby?" he murmured against her skin, moving to her other breast and pulling the nipple into his mouth, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin, and she couldn't help but moan out loud.

"Want … you."

He didn't respond and, instead of returning the way he had come like she had hoped, he kissed a trail down her stomach, all the time moving his finger in and out of her, in and out, slowly. He quickly dipped his tongue in her belly button before continuing even lower. Adding another finger inside her, he found her most sensitive spot with his tongue and flicked the nub once. Elena squeezed her eyes shut, her hands balled into fists around the coverlet and her hips arched of their own accord.

But, instead of pushing her over the edge, he kissed the inside of her thigh, pulled his fingers out of her and moved back up her body. When she felt him position himself at her entrance, she opened her eyes and met his.

"I love you," he mumbled, eyes burning into hers, as he slowly pushed inside her.

"I love you," she replied, pulling him down for a kiss.

He wanted to take it slow, draw it out, but she wouldn't have it. She had already been so close when he had entered her and, impatient for that release she knew was coming, she hurried him along, pulling him deeper into her, squeezing her muscles around him until he gave in and started moving faster, harder into her. Within a few minutes, stars exploded in front of her eyes and she felt like she was falling, falling through empty space. With one final thrust, he followed her over the edge, collapsing on top of her.

For a while, they both lay breathing hard, neither of them able to speak or move. Then Damon made the effort to at least roll them around, so that he wouldn't crush her. He pulled the coverlet up around them, using it as a cover against the air in the room, which now felt chilly against her overheated skin.

Elena's breathing slowly came back to normal and he hoped that maybe she would fall asleep, even if only from pure exhaustion. But then he felt something wet against his chest, and realized that she was crying silently.

"Shhh," he mumbled, wrapping his arms more tightly around her and rocking her like you rock a baby that needs comforting. He didn't know what else to do, having never seen her like this before. "Shhh, it's OK. Shhh."

His words only made her cry harder and, soon, she was sobbing into his chest, letting out all the worries she had saved up during the afternoon. He let her cry, holding her in the darkness, until she ran out of tears. Then they just lay there, limbs entwined, in silence, waiting for dawn. Hoping that the saying was true and that everything actually _would_ look better in the morning.

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**AN: OK, there we go, what did you think? Let me know …**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So, I just watched the new episode – I know, a little behind over here – and I'm so glad it's finally up and running again. I don't want to put any spoilers in here, in case someone hasn't seen it yet, but I thought it was good. Looking forward to next week! And, in the mean time, I have this story to keep me going. I didn't get much feedback on the last chapter, and I hope you guys aren't losing interest. I know that there isn't much action in this story, and, like I said, it's pretty much a link between "Everything" and the second sequel I'm planning, but, for that story, it's important to establish some things. Anyway, thanks to everyone who did review – you rock! ****xlittleminxx**** – I know I haven't addressed the issue of Elena still drinking Damon's blood as a precaution in case she gets hurt, but she is, I just haven't put it in writing. And spiritedghost, the whole channeling Buffy and company from BtVS is not always intentional – I've just watched that show way too many times, so sometimes it sneaks in there all of its own accord! I'm just glad when someone catches my (OK, not always) subtle hints! OK, that's it. And lots of hugs for my amazing beta, sunshine2006578!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**Chapter three**

The next day, Damon was woken up by the sound of his cell phone ringing incessantly. Elena had finally fallen asleep at around five in the morning, and, after having made sure that she really was asleep, he had dozed off shortly after her. The display on his phone said that it was now almost half past eleven – meaning that they had been asleep for a little over six hours, which was more than he had hoped for – and that the caller was Stefan. Amazingly, the sound of the phone hadn't woken Elena up, and he hurried to answer the call before it did.

"Hang on," he whispered, extricating himself from Elena's arms – still not waking her up – and slipping out of bed. He left the bedroom and carefully closed the door behind him before speaking. "Yeah?"

"_Good morning to you too,"_ Stefan greeted him in an amused voice. _"Did I wake you up? Isn't it close to noon over there?"_

"As a matter of fact, you did wake me up," Damon replied, going into the kitchen. "Elena was pretty upset last night, it took her a while to calm down and she didn't fall asleep until around five this morning." He managed to keep from yawning until he had finished the sentence, but then he couldn't hold it back anymore.

"_Oh, well, sorry for the early call then,"_ Stefan apologized. _"Did I wake her?"_

"Amazingly, no." As he spoke, Damon started the coffee machine, knowing that Elena would need the caffeine when she did wake up. To use her own words, she didn't feel quite human until after she'd had her first cup in the morning. "So?"

"_Well, another student has already moved into Jeremy's old dorm room," _Stefan revealed. _"I guess the turnover's pretty high when it comes to student housing, always someone waiting for a place to live. I didn't find anything that might be a message from him, and the roommate said that Jeremy didn't leave anything in the room. Furniture, clothes, personal belongings, he took everything with him."_

"Damn it!" Damon exclaimed, despite the fact that he really hadn't been expecting anything else. He had still hoped, for Elena's sake, that there would be a letter or something. "Well, thanks for at least _trying_, even if it didn't really give us anything new to work with."

"_No problem."_ Stefan hesitated for a moment. _"I haven't booked a flight back to San Francisco yet,"_ he then said._ "Do you want me to come to Durham instead? I don't have to get home right away, really, and I was thinking that Elena could use the extra support."_

Damon contemplated that for a moment. "That's up to you," he then said, not wanting to tell Stefan that he couldn't come if he wanted to. That would be too much jealous boyfriend. Stefan was Elena's friend, after all, and he cared about her too. "I think I have everything under control, but if you want to …"

"_You know what?"_ Stefan cut him off._ "Tell Elena to give me a call later, she can let me know if she wants me there or not."_

"Sure, I'll do that. And thanks again."

"_Don't mention it. I'll talk to you soon."_

"Yeah."

Damon hung up the phone and popped a couple of slices of bread into the toaster – Elena had barely touched the Indian food last night and was bound to be hungry now and, even if she wasn't, he was going to make her eat anyway – and waited until they were done, then he spread some butter and strawberry jam on the toast and put them on a tray. Just when he had finished that, the coffee was done and he poured some into Elena's favorite mug, a big, brown one that held half the contents of the coffee pot. Putting the mug on the tray as well, he carried everything into the bedroom.

Surprisingly – because the smell of coffee usually woke her up – Elena was still asleep. He put the tray down on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the bed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Even asleep, she didn't look completely relaxed; there was a furrow between her eyebrows that he had learned to identify as a sign that she was upset. She stirred a little at his touch, but didn't open her eyes. He leaned in closer, his mouth just at her ear. "I have coffee," he murmured, not wanting to scare her awake. "If you don't wake up right now, you won't get any."

As he had suspected, her eyelids fluttered open and she immediately located the mug with coffee on the bedside table.

"Mmm, breakfast in bed," she said, voice still a little raw from sleep, and rubbed her eyes.

"I thought you deserved it today," he replied. "Just don't get used to it."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Thank you, and I wouldn't dream of expecting it to become a permanent thing." She scooted up a little in the bed, leaning against the headboard, and he put the tray down in her lap before getting into the bed on his side. "What time is it?" she asked after having taken a large gulp of coffee.

"Eleven thirty," he replied, stealing a slice of toast.

"Crap, I missed my morning English class!" she exclaimed, frowning. "Do you know where my phone is?"

Damon thought for a moment. "Coffee table, I think,"

"Could you get it for me?" She gave him her best puppy eyes.

"Sure I could," he agreed, not making any move to get out of bed. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Oh, you weren't asking if I could get it _physically_, you actually wanted me to go and get it for you. Right. Back in a flash."

She rolled her eyes at him but couldn't help but smile as he got out of bed and left the room. He returned a moment later with the phone in hand.

"Thank you," she said when he had handed her the phone, leaning over to give him a kiss before taking another bite of her toast. Turning her attention to the phone, she found a text from Alison, which was what she had been expecting. She opened the message and read it, then shook her head, a slightly amused look on her face. "Of course. I should have known."

"What?" he wondered, and she held up the phone so that he was able to read the text. "_sinC Ur nt n cls, i gueS U avent recovAd d uz of Ur lgz aftr ll d sx w/yr BF lst nyt BG TM l-eight-r star-w-star _… OK, I might be over a century old but I thought I was _good_ at the whole modern technology thing. But apparently not, because I'm completely lost. What _is_ that? It can't be a language known to man."

Elena couldn't help but laugh when Damon read the text out loud, spelling everything out. "Alison's a big fan of text message short hand," she explained. "I've learned to decipher her messages, but it wasn't easy in the beginning, let me tell you."

"What does it actually _say_?" he wondered, frowning at the display. Why couldn't people just write normally? He had nothing against technology – in fact he _loved_ it, it made everything so much easier – but this was just ridiculous.

"_Since you're not in class I guess you haven't recovered the use of your legs after all the sex with your boyfriend last night, big grin, thank me later, wink_," Elena 'translated'. "I told her that yesterday was our anniversary, and she naturally assumed that would mean an all-night sex-a-thon, so she offered to take notes for me in class today if I didn't make it in. I hadn't planned on taking her up on it, but I guess it's a good thing she offered, since I completely missed the class."

"We should take advantage of her generosity more often," he said in a suggestive voice, leaning in to plant a kiss on her shoulder. She pushed him away.

"I'm eating!"

He looked at her through narrowed eyes for a moment. "Fine. Be that way."

She took her phone back, frowning. "I guess Stefan hasn't called yet. It is only eight thirty over there, maybe he's still asleep."

For a moment, Damon thought about telling her that, no, Stefan hadn't called, only to get a little more time before he had to disappoint her. But there was no point, better to get it over with. Besides, she would only get mad if she found out that he had lied to her, no matter how good his intentions had been. "He called me a little while ago, actually," he said. "I don't know how the sound of the phone didn't wake you up – and would you remind me to change that annoying ring tone? – but it didn't."

"What did he say? Did he find something?" She didn't sound like she really wanted to hear the answer, but he knew that he would have to tell her anyway.

"No, he didn't find anything. Jeremy's roommate said that he took everything with him, so there wasn't anything left where he could have hidden a letter or something." He squeezed her hand. "I think we have to accept the fact that he has decided to go underground for a while, or at least stay away from you and Jenna."

Elena nodded, swallowing hard. "I think I knew," she said after a moment. Her voice was a little shaky, but she didn't look like she was about to start crying or anything, which was progress. "I was just procrastinating, looking for an excuse not to tell Jenna right away."

"I don't think you can push it off much longer," he told her gently. "And I don't think you should, either."

"I know." She took a deep breath. "I don't want to miss my Lit class this afternoon, but I'll blow off Psych tomorrow, it's not like it's my major or anything. I don't want to tell Jenna this on the phone. She'll need me there when she finds out."

"We'll leave as soon as your class is done this afternoon," he offered. "We should be there by seven."

"Thank you." She moved the tray to the foot of the bed and hugged him tightly. "For being here."

"Of course." He hugged her back, burying his face in her hair and inhaling her scent. When she pulled back, he remembered Stefan's offer to come to Durham for moral support. "By the way, Stefan wanted you to call him." He kept his voice light, so as not to give her any reason to think that anything was wrong. Well, that anything _more_ was wrong.

"Why?" she asked, frowning. "I talked to him … well, yesterday, but before that just the other day, without all the 'missing brother' drama."

"He's worried about you," Damon improvised. He didn't want to tell her the real reason, because then she would ask him what he thought, if he would be OK with her asking Stefan to come, and he didn't want to say that he wished that he could be enough, that she wouldn't want his brother there too.

"I guess I'll give him a quick call then," she concluded, finding Stefan's number on her cell and hitting the 'Call' button. He picked up after the first ring.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi, it's me. Damon said that you wanted me to call you, so I am. Obviously."

"_Oh, uh, yeah."_ He hesitated. _"I just wanted to tell you that, if you need me, I don't have to get back to San Francisco right away. I'm sure I can get a flight out of here to Norfolk this afternoon, it wouldn't be a problem. If you want me to come, I mean."_

His offer warmed Elena's heart, but she didn't want to ask him to come all that way just because of her. He had already done enough, going to Los Angeles to check out Jeremy's dorm room. And, also, she didn't really need him. He was her friend, a very close friend, even, but now, for this, the only one she wanted by her side was Damon. He was all the support she needed.

"Thank you so much for offering, but you don't have to do that," she replied. "I'm so grateful that you could go to LA, but you should head back to San Francisco. Damon's here with me, and we're going to Mystic Falls this afternoon to tell Jenna. We'll probably stay the whole weekend."

"_OK."_ She thought that he sounded a little disappointed that she had rejected his offer, but if he did, it disappeared soon and he sounded just like always when he continued. _"But promise that you'll call me if you need me, OK? Day or night, I don't care."_

"I will. Thank you again."

"_Anytime."_

She hung up the phone and turned to Damon. She thought she saw a flash of relief on his face but, just like with the hint of disappointment she had thought she could hear in Stefan's voice a moment ago, it was gone before she could be sure.

"He offered to come here, give me moral support, I guess," she said. When Stefan had come back to Mystic Falls two years ago and Damon had immediately assumed that she was going back to his brother, she had made herself – and him, though he didn't know it – a promise to always be open with him about her contact with Stefan. It was the least she could do, considering how accepting he was about her friendship with her former boyfriend. "But I told him that I have you here, and that's all I need."

"Yeah?" He gave her a half-smile.

"Always."

"You know, I can be _very _insecure sometimes," he told her, leaning in closer. "You might have to prove it to me."

She laughed but pulled away when he tried to kiss her. "I have to get ready for class," she pointed out. "And if we're going to stay in Mystic Falls until Sunday, I need to pack too."

"Fine," he grumbled. But he didn't try to stop her when she got out of bed, which she was grateful for. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to resist if he had tried to 'convince' her to stay in bed for just a little longer. He had an uncanny way of being able to make her forget everything else except the two of them, even important things like school.

"You don't mind staying in Mystic Falls for the weekend, do you?" she wondered, realizing that she hadn't asked him if it was OK with him. "I want to be there for Jenna, she's gonna need me after we tell her. I can't even imagine how she'll react."

He shook his head. "No, of course not."

She offered him a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said before going into the bathroom and turning the shower on. She half-expected Damon to follow her into the room and continue his persuasion to try to get her to come back to bed, but the door remained closed as she pulled off the t-shirt she had slept in and stepped into the shower. The warm water felt nice against her skin and she stayed under the spray a little longer than what was really necessary, letting it ease some of the tension she could still feel in her body.

She had to decide exactly what she was going to say to Jenna, or she wouldn't be able to do it. She'd cave and tell her aunt the truth, and that wasn't a good idea. And, since she wasn't really a very good liar, she needed to go through what she was going to say, rehearse it so that it sounded genuine and she didn't lose her thread in the middle of it.

Jeremy had dropped out of school last week and, probably since he was worried that Jenna would be disappointed, he hadn't said anything to any of them. Or maybe she should say that he had talked to her about it? No, then Jenna would wonder why she hadn't said anything yesterday. So, instead of calling them to tell them what was going on, he had decided to drive back to Mystic Falls and hope that Jenna would be more understanding if he told her face to face. His cell number was Los Angeles based, so when he left the city, he had also left the number. Elena didn't think that it was a very realistic story, but she hoped that that was only because she already knew the truth.

Maybe Jenna would be optimistic for a few days, hope that Jeremy was just procrastinating and taking longer than usual to drive across the country, that he didn't want to face them just yet. But, sooner or later, she would be forced to accept that something must have happened to him along the road. Since he had no car that could be found abandoned by the side of the highway, she wouldn't really get any closure either and Elena hated that, but she couldn't do anything about it. She was pretty sure that Damon was right, that if Jeremy had just planned on telling her after the change he would have called by now … unless he was worried about what she was going to think and was procrastinating. But, no, she couldn't think like that. He had probably made the choice to stay out of their lives, maybe for the rest of Jenna's. So this was what she had to do. She hoped that, in time, Jenna would be able to move on. She had Alaric and they were getting married next summer. She would grieve, but in the end, she would be OK. Elena had to believe that, or she wouldn't be able to go through with the charade.

She got out of the shower and toweled off before going into the bedroom to get dressed. Luckily, Damon wasn't in the room, and she could get ready without him trying to distract her. When she had gotten dressed, she packed the clothes she kept in Damon's dresser into a sports bag she found in the walk-in closet. Her toiletries went the same way and when she was done, she checked her watch, finding that she would have just enough time to go back to her dorm room and get her books before class.

"I packed my stuff in one of your bags," she told Damon when she found him in the living room. "I hope that's OK."

"Of course." He looked up at her. "I'll pack my things and pick you up after class."

"Thank you." She gave him a quick kiss. "The class is done at five, but professor McGregor has a tendency to run a little late, so I might not get away until ten after or something like that. Now I have to run, or I'll be late."

She made it to the class with two minutes to spare and found Alison in one of the front rows, waving when she entered the room. Her friend gave her a pointed look when she sat down next to her, but Elena ignored it. Fortunately, the professor entered the room at that moment and prevented any questions. But, of course, as soon as the class was over, Alison pounced.

"So, I didn't expect you to show up at all today," she said in a suggestive voice as they joined the other students filing out of the room.

"I overslept," Elena replied shortly, hoping against hope that Alison would let it go. But of course not.

"I'm not surprised." Alison winked at Elena. "Considering the night I'm sure you've had, I'm shocked you even made it out of bed this morning. Post Anniversary Weak Legs Syndrome is a very valid reason to skip class, you know."

"Actually, the reason I overslept is that I found out that my brother is missing yesterday," Elena snapped, a little harsher than she had intended. She knew that Alison was just being her normal self, and that she didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't help it. They had gotten out into the hallway by now, and she quickly led the way in the direction of the stairs that lead down to the main entrance where Damon would be waiting for her.

Alison's eyes widened. "Oh my God, Elena, I'm sorry. I had no idea that something like that had happened, or you _know_ I would never joke like that! I'm sorry, OK, really, _really_ sorry."

Elena sighed. "I know, it's OK. You don't have to apologize."

"What happened? What are the police saying? I'm sure they'll find him," Alison babbled. "Is there _anything_ I can do? Anything at all, you just have to ask."

"Actually, yes," Elena said as they left the building and she spotted Damon's car. "We're heading back to Mystic Falls for the weekend, I need to be with my family right now. I'll probably be back by Monday, but could you take notes for me in class tomorrow?"

"Of course, anything you need." Alison pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I'm here if you need me, OK? Any time, to talk or anything you want, you know that, right? Just call me whenever."

Elena felt herself get a little teary eyed and realized just how lucky she had been to run into Alison on her first day here. The other girl had turned into a true friend. "I know," she mumbled. "Thank you."

"That's what friends are for."

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**AN: So, what did you think? As always, please let me know! It's easy, just click the little button saying "Review this Chapter" at the bottom of the page!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: The next chapter for you, guys. Just a heads-up: I have a lot to do in uni this week, so I don't know if I'll be able to update until the weekend. I will try, but if I don't, you know why. **

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you guys make my day! I thought I'd take a few moments to address a couple of the questions/comments. **_**SalvatoreLover17**_**: There isn't much about Bonnie/Caroline/Matt in this story, I know, and that's mainly because it was originally meant to be a one-shot. Bonnie is going to make an appearance, and I'll see if I can at least mention Caroline and Matt, to let you know what they're up to these days. **_**Notashamedtobesoilyfan**_**: Everything will (I hope!) be resolved in the end, but I'm not going to give anything away prematurely. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what's going on with Jeremy and Anna and why he hasn't been in touch (evil, I know!). **_**Gseeman**_**: As far as Elena thinking about turning goes … I think the first chapter made clear that she is thinking about it, but all I'm going to say is that that particular storyline isn't for this fic to pursue! **_**Lexipedia**_**: I'm glad you like Alison! I haven't gotten any comments on her character before, and I have to say that I really like her myself! **_**Vais**_**: I know Damon's been a bit OOC in this one, and I am trying to keep him as 'Damon-y' as possible while balancing on the line of it not getting to be too much in the circumstances: Elena is upset after all, I think even Damon would tone it down a little. But I will try to keep him more in character! **

**Wow, that got really long! OK, just a big thanks to my beta, sunshine2006578, and then it's on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**Chapter four**

When they passed the sign welcoming them to Mystic Falls a little before six thirty that evening, Damon glanced over at Elena and saw her biting her lip, an anxious expression on her face.

"Want me to turn the car around?" he asked, not seriously expecting her to say yes.

"No, I just want to get it over with," she replied.

"You know you don't have to do this," he noted. "It's Jeremy's mess, let him deal with it."

"Well, he's not here _to_ deal with it," she pointed out. "Which _does_ make it my mess, since Jenna is my family. I can't just let her keep wondering what's going on. And what do you want me to do, dodge her calls for the rest of my life?"

"OK, I admit, not a feasible solution," Damon agreed. "How about I do a little mind reconstruction? You know, she doesn't have to remember that she even _has _a nephew."

Elena gave him an incredulous look. "You're not serious, are you?"

He sighed. "No, of course not. I was just trying to … I don't know, lighten the mood. Mission unaccomplished, apparently."

She let out a deep breath. "Sorry, I guess I'm not in a mood that can be lightened right now."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." He flashed her a smile. "I have my ways."

Like he had hoped, she laughed a little. "Don't I know it. And I might be needing your distractions before the night is over."

"I'm counting on it."

He pulled into the parking lot at the high school and came to a stop close to the entrance. They had decided that it was probably a good idea to fill Alaric in on the situation before talking to Jenna, so that he would be prepared for her reaction. Elena had called him and he had agreed to meet them at the school without asking too many questions. Though she was pretty sure he had figured out what was going on, maybe even before she had.

The deserted corridors were a little spooky and, as they walked down them, Elena felt a chill run down her spine.

"I don't remember the school being so … creepy," she said quietly, but her voice still echoed off the walls. "It almost feels like a ghost house or something."

"What, did you forget about all the vampires that were running around this place when you were here?" Damon wondered dryly. "Or are you afraid of the dark? Scared something's going to jump out at you? I'm offended: you don't think I would be able to protect you?"

She rolled her eyes, knowing that he was trying to distract her, and ignored the mock-disappointed comment.

"I don't know, maybe it's everything else that makes me feel like that," she mused out loud. "Knowing what we're here to do."

"Nah, I think you're just afraid of the dark." He poked her in the ribs. "Scaredy-cat!"

"Ha ha."

They turned a corner and spotted a light coming from the history classroom halfway down the corridor. When they got to the open door, Damon knocked on the doorframe and Alaric looked up from a bunch of papers on his desk. "You're here," he said by way of greeting, gesturing for them to come into the room.

"I think you might have an idea why," Elena told him, sitting down on top of one of the desks in the front row. Damon took a seat next to her, taking her hand in his, trying to be supportive.

"I do have a hunch," Alaric admitted. "It's about Jeremy, right? I mean, the whole disappearing thing is a little suspicious."

"Yeah." Elena took a deep breath. She knew that Damon would tell Alaric if she asked him to, but she also knew that she needed to say the words herself, to make herself believe them. "I talked to the Administrations' office at UCLA, and both Jeremy and Anna dropped out last week. They have moved out of their dorm rooms and apparently manipulated someone so they wouldn't let Jenna know. We think Anna's going to turn him, if she hasn't already. It's been over a week now."

As she finished speaking, Alaric nodded thoughtfully, not looking all that surprised. "I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's been expecting this to happen?"

Elena sighed. "No. But I was hoping it would be a few more years."

"What are we telling Jenna?" Alaric asked.

"That's what we were going to ask _you_," Damon countered, making the teacher frown. "Do you think she can handle the truth? I mean, the last thing we need is for her to completely freak out and start yelling 'vampire' for the whole town to hear. I don't know about you guys, but I for one am _not_ in the mood for the villagers to pull out their pitchforks and torches right now. Been there, done that, didn't even get the t-shirt to prove it."

"I honestly don't know," Alaric said after a moment. "She might be able to deal with it. Under the right circumstances, but this definitely isn't it. She's already really upset about Jeremy being missing, I don't think telling her that he's a vampire would do much to improve the situation."

"We think he's planning on staying away, since he hasn't contacted me," Elena continued. "It's one thing to not tell her what he was planning _before_ it happened, but it's been a week. And Stefan went to his old dorm room at UCLA this morning; Jeremy didn't leave a note or anything. He's probably decided that it's better if he stays out of Jenna's life."

"Then I think it's best if we don't tell her what's really going on," Alaric concluded. "I mean, if he never gets in touch again, she'd still be wondering and worrying. In the long run, it might be easier for her to believe that he's just … disappeared. People do all the time, after all."

"That's what I think too." Elena nodded. "But she'll be devastated if she never finds out what happened to him."

"There's not much we can do about that, though, is there?" Alaric said quietly.

"I know," she agreed.

They all sat in silence for a while. "Well, we might as well get it over with," Damon then said. "Or, you know, we could procrastinate a little longer. I'm sure it'll be easier the longer we wait."

Despite the sarcasm, Elena knew that he was right, but she still didn't want to do it. She hated being the one to give Jenna the bad news, but knew that she had to be. "Yeah, let's go," she grudgingly agreed, jumping down off the desk she had been sitting on. Damon wrapped an arm around her waist, probably able to feel that she needed physical support as well as moral, and she smiled up at him as they left the classroom, trying to show him that she was holding it together.

The drive through town didn't take nearly as long as Elena had hoped and, within minutes, Damon pulled into the driveway at her house. Or, technically, her _old_ house. She had come back for over two months this past summer, and knew that she would return next summer and the one after that too, but she also knew that she would never actually _live_ there again, not permanently. That thought made her a little sad. This was the house she grew up in, the house her parents had moved into before she was even born. This was where she had lost her first tooth, learned how to ride her first bike, gotten ready for her first school dance and her first date. She had fallen out of the tree in the front yard when she was eight and broken her arm. The summer after she turned eleven, there had been a litter of kittens under the porch, and when there hadn't been any sign of their mother for days, she had begged her dad to break open the porch and help the kittens and he had. She didn't remember what had actually happened to the kittens, but she remembered her dad getting a crowbar from his tools and ripping up two boards, unearthing the tiny kittens. She and Bonnie had buried a time capsule in the far corner of the backyard when they were thirteen, making an oath to come back when they were fifty and dig it up.

This house was home. It always would be, no matter where she moved or what she did, no matter who actually lived in the house. Even if she lived for hundreds of years, she would always consider this house her true home.

"Hey, you in there?" Damon asked next to her, pulling her back to the present.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head as if to shake the memories off, at least for now. "I got a little sentimental for a moment."

"Maybe not the time for a stroll down memory lane," he noted, squeezing her hand. "Rick's waiting for us. Might as well get the show on the road."

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They got out of the car and joined Alaric, who was waiting for them on the porch. "Do you want to wait out here for a little while, or should we just pretend like I found you in the driveway when I got home?" he wondered.

"Let's just go inside," Elena replied. "It won't make a difference either way once I've told her."

"OK." Alaric unlocked the front door and Elena and Damon followed him inside. "Jenna?"

"Kitchen!" her voice drifted into the hallway. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Is there enough for two more?" Alaric called back and a moment later Jenna appeared in the doorway.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" she exclaimed, hurrying to give Elena a hug. "And why didn't you call, I would have made more food!"

"That's OK, Aunt Jenna, we can order a pizza or something," Elena assured her, hugging her back tightly. "It was a spur of the moment thing, my class tomorrow was canceled."

"I'm glad you're here," Jenna told her, letting her go. "And, yes, I know I saw you less than two weeks ago, but I can still miss you. It's my right as your aunt, you know."

"Of course you can." Elena looped her arm with Jenna's and went with her back into the kitchen. "And I missed you too."

She had decided that telling Jenna could wait until after dinner, but unfortunately Jenna didn't cooperate with her plan. "So, did you get a hold of Jeremy yesterday?" she asked after checking the food on the stove. "I tried to call you twice last night, but I just got your voicemail."

"Yeah, we went out last night," Elena said quickly. "We got back really late, so I didn't want to wake you up. And then I found out today that my class tomorrow was canceled and we decided to come here and surprise you."

"OK. But did you talk to Jeremy?"

Elena saw Damon enter the kitchen out of the corner of her eye. He must have heard Jenna's question because Alaric followed him a moment later. Taking a deep breath, Elena sat down at the table.

"No, I didn't get a hold of him," she told her aunt.

Jenna frowned. "I don't know why he would have his phone disconnected like that. And I tried the number I have for Anna after I talked to you yesterday, but I just got the same result. Though I'm not completely sure it's the right number, I've never used it before."

"It's the right number," Elena said. "Why don't you sit down?"

Jenna stared at her for a moment, not understanding what she meant, but then she pulled out the chair opposite Elena's and sat down, still holding the wooden spoon she had used to stir the pasta with a moment ago.

"I called Anna's number too, and, like you said, it's been disconnected, just like Jeremy's," Elena started. "So … this morning, I called the Administrations' office at UCLA, and they told me that both Anna and Jeremy dropped out of school last week." She edited the story a little, not wanting Jenna to think that she hadn't told her as soon as possible.

Jenna looked at her blankly. "But why would they drop out of school? And why hasn't Jeremy said anything, the last time I talked to him he sounded like he was having a great time in LA, and he said that school was going really good!"

"I know, I know, I thought so too." Elena reached over the table and took Jenna's hands in hers. "But I guess he didn't want us to know the truth. Maybe he was afraid you'd be disappointed in him or something."

"But where are they?" Jenna asked, voice getting shriller. "If they left LA last week, shouldn't they have come home by now? It doesn't take that long to drive."

"I don't know," Elena said, glad that she at least didn't have to lie about that. Could that be why Jeremy hadn't told her anything, so that she wouldn't have to lie to Jenna more than necessary? That thought cheered her up a little bit, even if it didn't do anything to improve their present situation. "We know that they cleared out their rooms, but that's it."

"But …" Jenna fumbled for words. "But they can't just have disappeared!"

Alaric went to stand behind Jenna's chair, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe …"

"We have to call the police," Jenna interrupted him. "We have to report them missing, so that someone starts looking for them. Where's the phone?"

"Here you go." Damon produced the phone, handing it to Jenna. She had trouble dialing the number, only succeeding on the third try.

"Yes, hello," she said after a moment. "I need to report my nephew missing … a week … well, I didn't know that he was missing before today, so how was I supposed to … Los Angeles … thank you." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "They're connecting me to someone in LA. Yes, hi. My name is Jenna Sommers, and my nephew, Jeremy Gilbert, is missing … apparently he dropped out of school last week, he was a student at UCLA, but we only found out today, and nobody has talked to him since last week either and his phone has been disconnected … because he's a freshman in college, I just thought he was busy with school and … his girlfriend is missing too, and her phone has also been disconnected … no, they haven't run away! … because I know my nephew, and he wouldn't do that … please, can you just look into it? … no, I can't come to the station tomorrow, I live in Virginia … Jeremy Gilbert and Anna Johnson, they were both students at UCLA until last week, they lived in the dorms … thank you so much … yes, I will go to the police station here and have them fax all the information to you tomorrow morning … thank you." She hung up the phone and slumped back in the chair, looking like the call had taken most of her energy away.

"What did they say?" Elena wanted to know.

"They're going to at least look into it," Jenna replied. "He thought that they had run away together or something, but I think I managed to convince him that they haven't. They need social security numbers and some other stuff, so I'm going to the station here in town tomorrow."

Elena was sure that the police wouldn't find anything, but felt like she had to sound optimistic. "I'm sure they'll find them."

"Yeah." Jenna nodded, the empty look in her eyes disappearing and a smile spreading on her face. "Of course they will. And, you know what? I bet they're on their way back here, it's just taken longer than usual. Maybe he's just worried about disappointing me, like you said, and didn't want to head straight back here. They'll probably show up tomorrow, all embarrassed that we sent the police looking for them."

Elena wasn't sure if Jenna's optimism was good or bad, but she let her think like that, at least for now. Sooner or later, she would find out that she was wrong.

* * *

It turned out to be sooner. Already in the late afternoon on Friday, Liz Forbes, wearing a somber expression, knocked on the door.

"Have they found anything?" Jenna asked nervously. As the day had passed – after going to the police station, she had stayed home from work, wanting to be there if Jeremy showed up – the smile on her face had gradually disappeared, and she had become less and less optimistic each time the phone had rung without it being someone with news about Jeremy and Anna or Jeremy himself.

"Can I come in?" the Sherriff asked and Jenna nodded numbly, stepping aside.

They all went into the living room and Elena sat down on one side of Jenna, Alaric on the other. Damon perched on the armrest next to Elena and the Sheriff sat down in an armchair.

"I'm afraid I have bad news," she said.

"They've found them," Jenna groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"No, they haven't, they're still missing," sheriff Forbes assured her. "But it turns out that Jeremy bought an old van at a used car dealership in Los Angeles last week, and that car was discovered abandoned at a truck stop a few miles from Santa Fe last week. It was full of what they think is Jeremy and Anna's belongings. Also, Jeremy's driver's license was found in the car as well as Anna's purse with her ID in it. I don't know why the police there didn't take the case further, at least contacting you about it, but there seems to have been some sort of miscommunication."

Jenna tried to say something, but couldn't get the words out.

"What do you mean the car was abandoned?" Elena asked. Why would Jeremy have bought a car only to leave it on the side of the road like that?

"One of the clerks at the truck stop said that the car had been there since Thursday. That works with the time frame if they left Los Angeles on Wednesday, which the police there have been able to more or less confirm," the Sheriff told them. "The clerk at the gas station remembered Jeremy and Anna, they got gas there late on Thursday and after they had paid, they didn't go back to the car but apparently decided to take a walk around the station or something. He didn't see them come back but didn't t think much of it until he came into work the next evening and the car was still in the parking lot. That's when he called the police and they took it to their impound lot."

"But where did they go from there?" Jenna asked, regaining the ability to speak. "They can't just have wandered off into nowhere, can they?"

"We don't know, Jenna, I'm sorry." Sheriff Forbes gave her a compassionate look. "The car was working like it should, the tank was obviously full. The area around there is very rocky and it was dark; they might have gotten lost or fallen or something. The police there are arranging a search party that will set out as soon as it's light tomorrow morning, but they've been out there for over a week, without any water or food as far as we know, so it doesn't look good. I'm sorry."

Elena realized that Jeremy and Anna must have planned this. Jeremy wouldn't want to leave Jenna with no closure at all, but he couldn't give her more than this. Maybe they had even counted on the police making the connection between them and the car earlier and notify Jenna before Elena had to come up with a story to tell her.

"What's going to happen now?" Elena asked, knowing that Jenna would need to know.

"The missing persons case has been handed over to the police in Santa Fe," the Sheriff replied. "They'll keep looking for them, but, like I said, it doesn't look very good. Again, I'm very sorry."

Jenna nodded, tears rising in her eyes. "Thank you for coming over and telling us, Liz," she mumbled before burying her face against Alaric's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her the best he could.

Elena got up from the couch. "I'll walk you to the door," she told sheriff Forbes.

"I'm sorry, Elena," the Sheriff said quietly when they got into the hallway. "I know this must be hard on you and Jenna, especially so soon after your parent's death. I'll stay in touch with the police in Santa Fe and keep you updated on everything that's going on. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Of course, thank you."

"And …" the Sheriff hesitated. "I've been trying to get a hold of Anna's mother, do you know where she is these days? The last listing I have is from when she lived in town, but that was over two years ago, and I haven't been able to find her in any of the databases."

"I can talk to Pearl," Elena quickly said, knowing that sheriff Forbes wouldn't be able to find her. "I think she's in Canada right now, but I'm not sure. I know she left the country, at least, that might be why you haven't been able to find her. I'll tell her to call you or the police in Santa Fe if she has any questions."

"Thank you, that's sweet of you. And, again, I'm very sorry about Jeremy."

Elena just nodded and opened the door to let the Sheriff out.

"You OK?" Damon's hushed voice came from behind her when she had closed the door. "That came out of nowhere, didn't it?"

"Am I OK? No, not really," she replied just as quietly, turning around and leaning against the door. "Do you think they planned this, that they left the car at that truck stop on purpose?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Maybe Jeremy wanted to give Jenna some sort of closure. Or maybe they just wanted her to stop looking for them, who knows?"

"I think he wanted to give her closure," Elena decided. "Do you think they're somewhere in New Mexico?"

He immediately shook his head. "No. I'm sure Anna wanted to throw everyone off her tail, they're probably as far from New Mexico right now as they can get. And I'm pretty sure Anna planted the story that the clerk told the cops. They probably had a second car that they left in, one that's in a fake name so we wouldn't be able to find it. Anna's no rookie, she knows how to disappear when she needs to."

"Probably," Elena agreed, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath. "It's so hard not to tell Jenna the truth! I hate to see her hurting like this when I could make it better, at least a little."

"I know," he said, pulling her into his arms. "But this was Jeremy's choice."

She wrapped her arms around him as well and nodded. "I know."

* * *

**AN: OK, there we go, Jeremy did at least think about giving Jenna some closure! I get the feeling you're not very happy with him right now, and I get that, but he does have his reasons. As usual, please let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, they really make my day! **_**QueQuowle**_**, I almost laughed out loud when I read yours, that Damon "did an excellent job of being a shoulder and an ass". I also think it's funny that my hotmail account edits what I guess is considered "offensive words" or something in the reviews when I get the alert e-mails! **

**Thanks to sunshine2006578, my amazing beta, for all her help with this chapter as well as the rest of the story! **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter five**

The weekend passed in a blur of phone calls from the police in New Mexico, updating them on the, naturally, futile search in the mountains around Santa Fe, and the town people coming to the house to pay their respect. You could never keep a secret like this for very long in Mystic Falls.

When Elena opened the door for what felt like the hundredth time late on Saturday afternoon, she found Bonnie on the other side.

"I'm so sorry!" the witch exclaimed, embracing Elena. "My dad just told me what happened, why haven't you called?"

"I'm sorry, I've been wrapped up in everything here," Elena apologized, hugging her friend back.

"How can they just have disappeared like that?" Bonnie questioned, pulling away to give Elena an inquiring look.

Elena glanced over her shoulder, making sure that Jenna wasn't in the hallway. Then she stepped out onto the porch.

"They haven't," she said quietly when she had closed the door behind them. "We think they've left because Anna's going to turn Jeremy. She probably already has by now. But we haven't told Jenna the truth, we don't think she'd handle it very well."

"Oh." Bonnie leaned against the porch railing. "You don't sound too surprised."

"I guess I'm not," Elena admitted, leaning against the wall next to the door. "At least not now, when the initial shock has passed. I had hoped it would be a while before it came to this, but I've been expecting it to happen at _some_ point."

"They _have_ been together for a long time," Bonnie pointed out.

Elena gave her a quizzical look. "You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would," she said after a moment. "I was sure you'd freak out at least a little. I mean, you're not exactly a big fan of the whole vampire thing."

Bonnie shrugged. "I've pretty much been expecting it too," she replied. "And you can't be around Damon and Anna for as long as I have without a big gray area appearing between the black and white of the world. It's been a long time since I was a part of the 'all vampires are bad' camp."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Bonnie gave Elena a scrutinizing look. "In fact … is there anything that _you_ want to talk to me about?"

Elena realized what she was referring to. "Not right now," she said, and Bonnie nodded.

"OK. But you know that you _can_ talk to me about it, right?"

Elena had actually been worrying about that; she had been afraid that Bonnie would completely freak out if she brought up her thoughts about asking Damon to turn her. She had, in the past two years that they had been together, come to realize that _one_ lifetime with him wouldn't be enough for her; she wanted forever, the _real_ forever, _his_ forever. And she knew that getting that would mean that she'd have to become a vampire too, even if she was still a little afraid of what that might mean and how exactly it would change her. Since thinking too much about it made her feel a little sick to her stomach, she had decided that she was going to put off the actual decision until after graduation, which gave her two and a half more years to get used to the idea. But she already knew that, barring something drastic happening, like them breaking up or something, she was going to go through with it.

It was good to know that, when it came down to it, she would be able to talk to her best friend about the biggest decision of her life. She smiled and reached out to squeeze Bonnie's hand gratefully. "I do now."

* * *

As the weekend passed without any news from the Santa Fe police, Elena watched more and more of Jenna's hope slip away. She hated leaving her aunt, but she had class on Monday morning and knew that Jenna wouldn't accept her staying in Mystic Falls if it meant that her education would suffer.

"I have Alaric," her aunt said on Sunday evening when Elena brought up the possibility of her staying a few more days. "And I think I'm going back to work tomorrow, it'll help to keep busy. I won't be able to think too much about it then."

"Probably," Elena agreed, remembering how she had felt after her parents had died and she'd had nothing to do but stare at the walls of her bedroom and write in her journal.

"I was thinking," Jenna started, "maybe we should have some sort of memorial service for Jeremy? I mean, we can't have an actual …" she seemed to be having trouble getting the word out, "… funeral, but I think that people would still like to get a chance to pay their respect, say goodbye." As she spoke, tears rose in her eyes again, and Elena hugged her.

"I think that's a good idea, Aunt Jenna," she said.

"Then I'll set it up," Jenna concluded, pulling back and wiping her eyes. She seemed relieved to have a project, something to do, somewhere to focus her thoughts. "How about next weekend? Or do you think we should wait a little longer? The police could still find something …"

Knowing that she shouldn't encourage Jenna to keep hoping, Elena shook her head. "No, I think next weekend will be good."

A little more of the dwindling hope in Jenna's eyes disappeared. "I can't believe he's just _gone_," she mumbled, biting her lip. "I've never understood those people, parents whose children have gone missing, when they say that they would rather their child was found dead than keep living without knowing what happened to them. I think I do now. Anything would be better than this … this uncertainty. What if the police never find anything? Are we supposed to just move on without ever finding out what happened to him?"

Elena didn't know what to say to that and was saved from saying anything at all by Damon and Alaric coming into the kitchen.

"We should probably get going," Damon said, wrapping an arm around Elena's waist. "It's already past eight, you have class in the morning. And while I'm _all_ for you skipping it, I know you don't want to."

She nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"Go, sweetie, I'll be OK," Jenna told her, enveloping her niece in another hug. "_I'm_ the one who should be comforting _you_ in the first place, not the other way around. I _am_ supposed to be the parental authority around here. Though it doesn't much feel like that right now."

"How about we comfort each other?" Elena suggested, hugging Jenna tightly before letting her go. "We'll be back on Friday afternoon, OK? Give me a call if you need any help setting things up. Or if you just want to talk, anything."

"OK, sweetie. And I probably will. Maybe you could think about what kind of music Jeremy would like? I never really paid much attention to his taste in music, which I probably should." A guilty expression appeared on Jenna's face.

"Don't worry about that now, Aunt Jenna," Elena tried to tell her. "And I'll think of some songs he would like, OK?"

Jenna nodded, sniffling a little, and then she and Alaric walked them to the door.

"Jenna wants to have a memorial service for Jeremy," Elena told Damon when they had left Mystic Falls behind and were on the highway heading south. "She said that maybe we should wait a while, in case the police find something, but I don't want her to go around hoping more than she already does."

"I figured as much. And that's probably a good idea," he agreed. "I mean, she'll probably always keep hoping he'll come back, on some level, you humans are hardwired to never lose faith." He shook his head, as if the idea was absurd to him. "But the sooner she can stop expecting it, the better. You humans are good at healing, too."

Elena could see the reasoning behind his thinking – despite the incredulous way in which he said 'you humans' – but still hated to be the one to kill another fraction of Jenna's hope. But she told herself that it was for the best.

"I talked to sheriff Forbes earlier," she said. "She told me that the police in Santa Fe will probably send Jeremy's things here later this week, they shouldn't need to keep it around for evidence much longer. Maybe it'll be easier for Jenna to accept it when she sees them."

He looked a little doubtful, but still nodded in agreement. "Maybe."

They drove in silence for a while.

"Where do you think they are?" Elena then asked, quietly. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it all weekend. Where were they? What were they doing? What were their plans? She knew that Anna could take care of herself, but in her mind Jeremy was still the six-year-old who had refused to let go of her hand on his first day of school, the twelve-year-old who had tried not to show how disappointed he had been when the first girl he ever asked out turned him down, the fifteen-year-old who stubbornly refused to let her comfort him after their parents died. No matter what he became, he would always be her little brother and she would always want to take care of him, look after him. But now she couldn't do that.

"My guess is they've headed north somewhere," Damon replied, pulling her back to the car and the question she had just asked. "Less daylight up there, helps with the whole burning-up-in-the-sun thing. I never actually had to deal with that little problem myself, courtesy of Emily and her nifty little rings, but I bet it takes a while to get used to not being able to go outside when you want to."

"Right," Elena mumbled, seeing why that would be appealing; even if Anna had a ring that protected her from the sun, Jeremy didn't. "Do you think Bonnie could spell a ring like yours?"

Damon frowned. "Maybe. All the details to the spell _should_ be in Emily's grimoire, and I'm pretty sure Sabrina has enough juice to pull it off. Question is if she'd _want_ to. You know she has _issues_ with vampires."

"I don't think she would be as opposed to the idea as you might think," Elena mused out loud, making a mental note to ask Bonnie about making a daylight ring the next time she spoke to her. "I wish I could get a hold of Jeremy, talk to him for just a few minutes." This wasn't the longest she had gone without talking to her brother; her first few months at college had been really hectic, and sometimes it had been two weeks or even longer between their conversations. But this was different; back then, she had always known that he was just a phone call away if and when she _did_ want to talk to him, but now she didn't have that. All she could hope was that, some day, he'd get in touch with her.

"Do you want me to get someone to try to find them?" Damon wondered. "It probably won't be easy, but I have contacts. People … or, well, _vampires_ mostly, who are under the impression that I'm still the big bad." He let out a sigh that could only be described as wistful.

"Missing the good old days?" Elena asked, a little amused.

He shrugged. "Nah, not really. I mean, the whole thing with having people afraid of you might be fun – or, OK, a _lot_ of fun – for a while, but, like everything else, it gets old eventually. Besides, I can still talk the talk and at least _pretend_ to walk the walk if I want to, I think I can scare up _someone_ who can find _something_ out."

She nodded thoughtfully and contemplated his question for a moment. "No, you don't have to use your 'contacts'," she finally decided. "I don't want Jeremy to feel like I'm trying to keep tabs on him or something. If he wants to get in touch with me, he will, and if not …" She didn't finish the sentence, not wanting to imagine never speaking to Jeremy again, never seeing him. That would be too much, especially right now after having dealt with Jenna's grief all weekend.

"I'm sure he will, when he's ready," Damon assured her. "The whole sibling thing works two ways, you know. You can never really get rid of them, no matter how hard you try. Take it from someone who knows."

She laughed once, dryly. She was pretty sure that Damon couldn't know for sure that Jeremy would get in touch with her eventually and was just trying to make her feel better, but she still appreciated the effort.

"I'm sure he will."

* * *

Elena went back to class on Monday, feeling like life shouldn't move on quite so easily. But that was the way the world worked; it didn't stop spinning even when you thought it should.

When she got home from class on Thursday, she turned her computer on; she had a paper that she needed to finish for her lit class and was already behind because of everything that had happened. When she sat down at the desk, she saw the little icon telling her that she had a new message blinking, and clicked it to open her e-mail.

She frowned when she saw the new message. There was nothing in the subject box and she didn't know anyone called Gil Jerry. But, for some reason she couldn't quite explain to herself, she didn't delete the e-mail, like she normally would with a message like that, but opened it. The first two words almost made her heart stop.

_Hey sis!_

She had to take a couple of deep breaths before she could keep reading.

_Yep, it's me. I know, the name must have thrown you off. Maybe you didn't even open the e-mail, in which case this is completely pointless, but I'm gonna keep going anyway, just in case. If I don't get a response, I'll just keep mail bombing you until you realize that it's not some weirdo trying to convince you that you're the lucky winner of a million dollars and read one of my e-mails. _

_I'm OK. Just wanted to get that out there right away. You don't have to worry about me. And, yes, I know it's pointless to tell you that. I can practically hear you as I'm writing this, 'Come on, Jere, I'm your sister, I can't _not_ worry about you.' Well, try. Please?_

_I know that you're probably pissed at me right now, and you have every right to be. It wasn't that I thought you'd try to talk me out of it … OK, so maybe it was, at least a little. I know that you of all people would understand why I wanted to do this, but I thought you might still try to get me to put it off. Am I right? You would have said something along the lines of 'What's a few more years, Jere? You'll have the rest of eternity together, why do you have to rush things?' And maybe a few more years wouldn't make a difference – to you. But your boyfriend isn't going to be fifteen forever, so try to understand, please. I really don't want this to mess up our relationship, it's been really good these last few years. I know, I know, maybe I should have thought about that _before_ I went through with this without talking to you about it first, but I didn't, so this is what we have to deal with. Do you think you'll be able to forgive me for putting you through this, one day? I hope so._

_OK, I was saying how it actually _wasn't_ about thinking you'd try to talk me out of going through with it. It was more about not wanting you to worry too much. And yes, I know that that might sound like a paradox, since I'm sure you've been plenty worried these past few days, but I know that if I had told you that I had asked Anna to turn me you would have obsessed about something going wrong and I didn't want that. I chose the lesser of two evils, OK?_

_It went fine. I'm OK, feeling a little weird still, but I guess that's to be expected. And, don't worry, I didn't kill anyone to complete the change; Anna got blood from a hospital before. And I haven't planned on starting hunting humans, either, if you were worried about that. It's surprisingly easy _not_ to want that, I thought it would be harder, that I'd want it so bad I'd have to work really hard to keep from going after some poor unsuspecting person in the street or stay away from humans altogether for a while. And, yes, the blood does tempt me, but not more than … walking past an ice cream stand in the summer. Yes, bad analogy, I know, but it was the only thing I could think of. It feels good to know that I can control it, I was a little worried about that, to tell you the truth. _

_I don't know what you think about my choice to keep Jenna from finding out about this, about the entire world of vampires and werewolves and whatever the hell else is out there – hey, wouldn't it be cool if everything we stopped believing in as kids actually exists, like Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny … anyway, getting back on topic. I just feel like Jenna couldn't handle it, and she shouldn't have to. It'll be easier for her to think that I'm missing or dead or something. You can judge me all you want, but unless – until? – you're in the same position yourself, you can't really know what you would do in my place, can you? Anyway, if you've decided to tell her the truth I guess that's your choice. Maybe I would even be glad if you had, if she knew everything and I wouldn't have to hide what I am from her, I don't know … I didn't do it this way because I never want to see her again, I did it because I thought it was best for her. Please try to be there for her and don't let her blame herself in any way, OK? She'll probably feel like she's failed me or something, but try to convince her to not think like that. _

_I'm guessing you've found out that Anna and I dropped out of UCLA. If not, maybe I shouldn't have worried about you freaking out about this; it's been two weeks since I talked to you or Jenna, one of you should have at least tried to call me by now. We bought a car before we left LA and abandoned it at a truck stop just outside Santa Fe. The guy in the gas station should have called the police the day after we were there, and I suppose they contacted Jenna. We left all our stuff in the car, including IDs, so they would know who to notify. I thought it might give Jenna some closure, be easier than if I had just completely disappeared into thin air. Maybe the police will think we got lost in the mountains there or something like that. They'll probably look for us for a while and then let the case go cold. People disappear in the mountains all the time, right?_

_I've thought long and hard about whether or not I was going to tell you where we are, and I've finally decided that I will: a town called Barrow in northern Alaska. Anna did a lot of research before all of this, and right now we have about three hours of daylight here and apparently there is no sun at all between the middle of November and the end of January, which is a good thing since I don't have one of those rings that protect from the sunlight. This way, I won't have to stay inside all day, and we have some time to try to get a ring or something for me too. Anna has some contacts and is trying to find a witch who knows how to do these kinds of spells and, hopefully, by the time the sun rises above the horizon again here, I'll be able to enjoy it. Or at least endure it, Anna says that it's not very pleasant to be out in the sun, at least not at first. _

_That's really all I was planning on saying. I'm sorry again for keeping you out of the loop like this, but I think – hope – you understand. I don't want to lose you, and I hope we can still see each other. But I understand if you need some time to get used to this. Take all the time you need. I have the rest of forever, after all!_

_You can reach me on this e-mail address when you're ready to talk. I'll wait a week, then I'll assume that you deleted this e-mail without opening it and send you another one. _

_Love you, sis,_

_Jeremy_

Elena stared at the screen for a long time after having finished reading the e-mail. She felt so relieved that Jeremy wasn't trying to completely shut her out, and that he was OK, that she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She snapped out of the daze only when there was a knock on the door and she opened it with a big smile on her face.

"Aren't you chipper today," Damon noted. "Good day in school? Or are you just happy to see me? And please say yes to the last one, I have a very fragile ego."

"I got an e-mail from Jeremy," she told him, unable to hold it in. "He's fine and he and Anna are up in Alaska somewhere, where there's no sun for months in the winter."

"Ah, I was right."

"Yeah, you were." She nodded vigorously. "I'm so relieved, I feel like I could sing."

"Please don't!" he immediately exclaimed, and she slapped him playfully on the arm. "Ow!"

"You can't ruin my moment," she said. "It's impossible."

"Wasn't trying to." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I'm going to enjoy seeing a smile on your face, because I haven't in almost a week."

"You do that, come tomorrow afternoon I'll have to act like the grieving sister again." She frowned at that idea, not sure she would be able to keep up appearances. But that would have to be a problem for tomorrow.

"Did he say anything about why they decided to do it this way?" Damon wondered.

"He said that he didn't think Jenna was ready to find out the truth, and that he didn't want me to worry about the actual transformation before it was over," she replied. "But he also said that if I decided to tell Jenna what was really going on, it was up to me. But … I think he's right. She couldn't handle this, not right now at least."

"So we don't tell her," he concluded.

"No, we don't tell her," she agreed. "Not right now."

"But maybe someday?"

She smiled. "Yeah, maybe someday."

* * *

**AN: I hope nobody (especially **_**Merlin**_**!) is too disappointed that Jeremy and Anna hadn't been kidnapped by Katherine or something. I'm just not really that into the whole supernatural stuff in my stories, I focus more on the relationship aspect of the Vampire Diaries universe. Which is, of course, why I chose not to have Katherine return when she did on the show in the first place. And **_**Merlin**_**, to answer your question about the length of this story: like I said in the AN on the first chapter, I think, this story started out as a one-shot, which then turned into a **_**really**_** long one-shot and then was divided into chapters. At that point, this was the last chapter: everything's pretty much been resolved, Elena knows where Jeremy is and that he's OK and all that, and Jenna's not going to find out the truth right now. But then – as happens a lot when I'm writing, for some inexplicable reason – I got an idea. So there is going to be one more chapter (at the time of writing, mind you, I can still change my mind!) to wrap everything up in a – in my mind at least – more satisfying way. Then I have an idea for a second sequel that would take place around Elena's graduation from college – and you should all realize what that means after this chapter! OK, that's it for now. As always, please let me know what you thought!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hope you guys are having a good weekend – I know I am, finally a little time off after a few very busy days this past week****… though, technically, I have stuff I need to do for school… but everyone deserves a little break, right? ****And it's not like things are going to get any **_**less**_** busy this spring. I'm going to start working on my master's thesis as soon as I've found a subject, so I doubt I'll have trouble coming up with things to do to keep busy! But this writing is my way of relaxing and letting everything go, stepping into an alternate universe, if only for a little while, so I plan on keeping it up, no matter how hectic things get.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you guys rock! And SalvatoreLover17 – a little Bonnie in this chapter, and at least some news about Caroline and Matt – hope you like it! And lots of hugs for my amazing beta, sunshine2006578, for all her help with this story!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter six**

Elena didn't have to worry about acting the part of the grieving sister for the memorial. The atmosphere at the house and in the entire town dampened her spirits the moment she and Damon arrived on Friday afternoon. Jenna walking around the house with red rimmed eyes didn't exactly make things better, either.

"Remind me that this isn't really real," Elena asked Damon in a pleading voice when she was getting ready for the service on Saturday morning. "I'm starting to think that I only imagined Jeremy's e-mail and that he and Anna really have disappeared and are lying dead in the mountains somewhere in New Mexico."

"It's not real," he told her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He met her eyes in the mirror, trying to give her a comforting look. "Jeremy's fine, he's not really dead. Well, I guess, _technically_ …" Elena elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!"

"Don't even talk about that." She shuddered. "I don't want to think about it like that."

"Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood a little."

"It's actually good that I'm a little down," she replied. "I don't think I'll have to fake being sad at all."

"Then maybe we should leave before you suddenly perk up," he suggested. "You look great."

Elena spent the entire service with one arm around Jenna, trying to comfort her aunt. She was grateful that Alaric was sitting on Jenna's other side; she knew she wouldn't have been able to handle it on her own. Damon's hand that never let go of hers helped a lot, too.

After the service, people gathered at the house, everyone bringing something to eat. Elena was reminded so much of her parents' funeral that she had trouble keeping the tears at bay, adding to her façade. For the first time, she was glad that her parents weren't around; relieved that they never had to go through this.

After two hours of sympathetic people giving her their condolences and trying to dodge Caroline, who started crying as soon as she saw her, Elena needed some time to herself and snuck into the kitchen, which was empty. Or at least it was when she went in there.

"They mean well," Bonnie's voice came from the doorway and Elena turned to find her best friend giving her a supportive smile. She sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I know. It's just a little much."

"I get that." Bonnie nodded. "Caroline wanted me to tell you that she and Matt are heading out, they have a long drive back to Boston."

Caroline and Matt had moved to Boston after graduation last summer; Caroline was studying fashion design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Matt had gotten a football scholarship to Boston College where he was studying economics.

"I know, and I'm glad they came down."

Bonnie crossed the room and put an arm around Elena. "How're you holding up?" she asked. "Seriously?"

"I'm OK," Elena replied. She glanced at the open doorway before she continued. "I mean, none of this is real, you know."

"Maybe not, but I can see that you're still having a hard time." Bonnie scrutinized her. "Have you talked to him?"

She didn't say Jeremy's name, but Elena knew who she was talking about. She had told both Bonnie and Alaric about Jeremy's e-mail, though not the exact details: she wasn't sure if he wanted everyone to know where he was. "No. I sent him an e-mail back, but he hasn't replied yet."

"You know that I'm here if you need me, right?" Bonnie asked. "I mean, I know that he's not actually …" she glanced at the doorway as well, "… _dead_, but this is still a big adjustment for you."

"I guess," Elena agreed, shrugging.

"Just know that you can talk to me, anytime."

Elena was about to reply when Damon appeared in the doorway. "So this is where you two are hiding out, I was starting to think you'd made a run for it and left me hanging." He came over and leaned against the counter next to Elena, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Jenna's asking for you."

Elena nodded. "I should get back out there," she said, not sounding exactly thrilled.

"Want me to go with you?" he offered. "I can put on my most menacing expression, scare off everyone who gets near you. I bet I can clear out the whole house in less than fifteen minutes."

"No, that's OK," she told him with a smile. "You deserve a breather too."

"OK. Then I will be there in a minute."

She leaned in for a kiss before leaving the room, both Damon and Bonnie following her with their eyes.

"How is she really doing?" Bonnie asked quietly when she had disappeared from view. "She keeps insisting that this isn't real and that she's OK, but I'm not sure."

"I honestly don't know," Damon replied, frowning. "She was fine before we left Durham. She was even in a good mood after she got that e-mail from Jeremy the other day. I think it's the whole funeral atmosphere that's gotten her down. No wonder, this place would make even the Marx Brothers miserable."

Bonnie gave him a long look. "You do know that comments like that will make people wonder about you, right?" she noted. "Good thing I already know you're a hundred and fifty."

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed. "The Marx Brothers are a classic! Animal Crackers, Duck Soup …"

"Whatever," she interrupted him. "But I guess it's good if it's just the atmosphere bringing Elena down. Then she should be more or less OK when you leave tomorrow. But it must be hard for her not to be able to tell Jenna the truth."

"I think she's managed to convince herself that it's for the best," he said. "I mean, even Alaric told us that he didn't think Jenna would be able to handle the truth right now. Hopefully we'll be able to tell her someday."

Bonnie looked at him silently for a long moment, and they both knew what his words implied. "Someday … soon?" she then asked. Elena had said that there wasn't anything she wanted to talk about _right now_, but that could mean anything from next month to ten years from now.

He shook his head. "Again, I honestly don't know. We haven't talked about it; I only realized that she was even thinking about it the other week. And I don't want to push her; it has to be her choice. She hasn't said anything about it to you?"

"No. But I've sort of been assuming that it would happen sooner or later." She sighed. "I mean, do I _want _my best friend to become a vampire? Of course not. But she loves you, and she's happy with you. I've accepted that this is the next logical step, and I'm going to support her if – when – she decides to take it."

Damon looked at her in amazement. "Are you feeling alright, Sabrina?" he then asked, reaching out to touch her forehead. "Nope, you're not running a temperature, so it can't be fever induced hallucinations. Maybe it's just temporary insanity."

"Come on, cut it out," she told him. "People can surprise you."

"That they can," he agreed. "I'm gonna get back out there. Elena's bound to be needing a buffer about now."

"I'll be there in a moment."

"OK." He walked towards the doorway, but stopped halfway across the room. "There's something I wanted to ask you," he said, turning back to Bonnie.

"Shoot."

"Do you think you can make a ring like mine?" he asked, holding up the hand he was wearing his daylight ring on. "Jeremy's trying to get one, and I thought you might have the power to do the spell." It wasn't a way to flatter her into agreeing; he really did believe that she could do it.

She thought for a moment. "I think so. The spell's in Emily's grimoire, but I haven't looked at it too closely. Can I get back to you on Monday? I'll have had time to look at it by then and I should be able to tell if I can pull it off or not."

"Sounds good, Sabrina."

* * *

As soon as they left Mystic Falls on Sunday afternoon, Elena let out a long sigh. "I'm glad _that's_ over," she said in a relieved voice. "I don't know if I could have taken any more of the sympathetic looks and compassionate comments."

"They _are_ just trying to show their support," Damon pointed out in a sarcastic voice. "You could be a _little_ more grateful."

She rolled her eyes. "And it's not just about Jeremy not actually being dead; I felt the same way when my parents died, too. I mean, I know that a lot of the people in town actually do feel bad, but some of them only showed up at the service and the house because they knew that's what they _should_ be doing in a situation like that, even if they couldn't care less, and that's what I can't stand."

"I see what you mean," he agreed. "It's the same kind of thing that makes people slow down when they see a car accident: some sort of morbid curiosity and the need to see other people suffering. One of the benefits of vampires: at least they don't pretend."

"And it's been hard being around Jenna, too," she continued, ignoring his last comment. "Knowing that I could say something to make it at least a little better, but not being able to do it anyway."

"Are you having second thoughts about not telling her the truth?" Damon wondered. "It's not too late."

Elena sighed. "No. I mean, I've changed my mind and decided to tell her about a dozen times in the last few days, but deep down I know this is for the best, at least right now."

"She'll be OK, eventually," he tried to comfort her. "Human's get over stuff like this faster than you think, at least the initial grief."

She nodded, a little thoughtfully. "I know."

That didn't really make it any easier, though. Elena tried to call Jenna every day and could tell that her aunt was upset. She had even started thinking that she had a part in Jeremy's disappearance; if he hadn't thought that she'd be upset with him for dropping out of school, maybe they would have found out about the car being abandoned sooner and the police would have found them. Elena tried to reason with her when she brought that thought up, but she wasn't completely sure she got through to Jenna. She realized she would just have to let the grief and guilt take its course, there was nothing she could do to speed up the process except be there for her aunt.

* * *

The Friday after the memorial service, Elena only had a morning class, so it was a few minutes after noon when she entered the apartment. She stopped just inside the front door when she spotted two suitcases on the floor.

"I thought we weren't going back to Mystic Falls this weekend?" she called into the apartment. Alaric was taking Jenna to his parents' beach house for the weekend, thinking that some time away from the town would do her good.

Damon appeared in the hallway. "We're not," he replied and she frowned.

"Then what's with the suitcases?" she asked. "Is this your way of telling me that you're dumping me? Because not very tactful, just so you know."

"Yup, I'm done. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm moving on." His voice didn't in any way let on that he was kidding, but the scowl on his face did. "Don't joke about that."

"Sorry." She shrugged her jacket off and continued into the kitchen. "Seriously though, where are we going?"

"First, we're going to Charlottesville," he told her, following her into the room. "Then, later tonight, we're flying to Alaska."

The last word made her spin around to look at him. "We're going to Alaska?" A smile spread on her face as she spoke.

"Yep," he confirmed. "I know that you won't be able to completely relax until you've seen that Jeremy is really OK for yourself, and, to be perfectly honest, you've been a pain to live with these past couple of days. I'm only doing this so that I will _finally _ get some peace of mind."

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just insult me and focus on the fact that I'm going to see my brother. Thank you," she said, taking the few steps necessary to be able to wrap her arms around him.

"It was nothing," he replied, kissing the top of her head.

"Do they know that we're coming?" she asked, pulling back a little. She had suggested to her brother that maybe she and Damon could come and visit, but Jeremy hadn't even addressed that in the e-mail she had gotten a few days ago.

"Nope." Damon shook his head. "I figured the surprise tactic might be the best way to go this time. They won't be able to skip town if they don't know we're coming."

"OK." Elena nodded. "But you know where they live?"

"Barrow isn't exactly New York; blink and you'll miss it," he told her. "And I've been doing some digging, I think I have a pretty good idea where they're holed up."

"OK. Then let's go. I'm guessing you've packed everything I'll need?" She wanted to get on the road right away, even if that didn't mean they'd get there any sooner.

"Everything's ready," he confirmed.

"OK then. I need to get some lunch, but I can do that at the airport …" She trailed off. "Hang on. Did you say we were going to Charlottesville first?"

"Yep, and we're driving there. I booked a flight out of Dulles, even if that means we'll have a five hour drive home on Sunday."

"But why?" Elena asked. "I mean, not that I don't want to see Bonnie, but we can go there next weekend."

Damon gave her a slightly exasperated look. "I thought it would be rude to not bring a housewarming present," he hinted.

"And Bonnie can help with that because …" she cut herself off before she had finished the question, realizing what he meant. "Oh. You think she can do it?" She had forgotten to ask her friend about the spell.

"_She_ does. And I'll take the ring for a test run before you give it to Jeremy, so it'll be fine."

"A test run?" she questioned. "You mean you're going to put it on to make sure it works?"

"That was the general idea, unless you have a better suggestion."

"No, bad idea," she immediately objected. "What if it doesn't work?"

He sighed. "Relax, I'm not gonna go stand outside and trade rings. I'm not suicidal. One ray of sunlight will be enough to tell if it works or not. I won't burn to a crisp."

"OK." She nodded, assured that he wouldn't put himself in harm's way.

They stopped to get some food to go, and then they headed north.

Bonnie was waiting for them when they got to her dorm room, Emily's grimoire open on her bed. "Hey, come on in," she said when she opened the door. "Nicki has an evening class, so we should have a few hours to ourselves."

"Thanks, Bonnie, for doing this," Elena said, squeezing her friend's hand. "I know you don't actually have to."

"Come on, Elena. It's Jeremy we're talking about. Of course I have to. And I want to."

"Still, thank you. I know Jeremy will be really grateful."

Bonnie nodded before turning to Damon. "OK, I have everything I need. Did you bring something for me to spell?"

Elena hadn't even thought about that but, apparently, Damon had, because he produced a silver ring with a dark stone in it, similar to his own, and gave it to Bonnie.

"OK. You need to be quiet," Bonnie instructed, gesturing to her roommate's bed. "Sit down over there."

Elena and Damon obediently sat on the second bed and watched as Bonnie performed the spell. Nothing spectacular happened; no candles blazing, no unnatural wind blowing through the room.

"OK, it's done," Bonnie announced after a minute or so.

"No offense, Sabrina," Damon started, getting up from the bed and drawing the curtains closed, leaving only a sliver of light, "but I think I'll try it out first, just to make sure. Don't want our latest friendly neighborhood vampire to turn into a pile of dust just because you think you're a better witch than you are."

"Go ahead." Bonnie gave Damon the ring and he took off his own, sliding the new one onto his finger instead. Then he passed his hand through the ray of sunlight still streaming into the room. Nothing happened. He did it again, keeping his hand in the sunlight for a little longer this time, with the same result.

"Good work," he then complimented Bonnie, taking the ring off and giving it to Elena before putting his own ring back on. "Works like a charm."

"I told you," Bonnie replied, sounding a little smug but not offended that he hadn't completely trusted her abilities.

"OK, we have time to get something to eat before we have to leave for the airport," Damon said. "Why don't I take you ladies out to dinner?"

* * *

Elena was more than a little nervous when the plane touched down on the landing-strip at the small airport in Barrow, Alaska. She'd had hours to prepare herself; including the time they had spent waiting at the airports in Seattle and Anchorage, they had been travelling for over twenty hours. It was now ten thirty in the morning, and it was still dark outside.

Against all odds, she had managed to get a few hours of sleep on the plane between Seattle and Anchorage and now, instead of feeling tired, she felt excited on the verge of hyper.

"OK, where are we going?" she asked as soon as they had gotten off the plane, looking around herself impatiently.

"First, I think we need a car," Damon concluded, eyeing her a little questioningly. "Unless you feel like walking, work off some of that surplus energy you seem to have built up during the flight."

"Then let's go get a car," she replied, ignoring his jibe.

Soon, though not soon enough in Elena's opinion, they were in a rental car leaving the airport.

"There's already snow on the ground," she exclaimed in amazement when they had been driving for a while. "It's barely November."

"I think it can snow pretty much all year around up here," he replied. "We _are_ three hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle. We should probably be happy if we don't run into a polar bear in the street."

"I know, but still." She was silent for a moment. "Do you know where we're going?" Instead of driving towards town, Damon had turned away from the more populated areas and was now following the coastline, heading south-west as far as she could tell.

"It should be just up here …" he started, scanning the landscape. "Yep, there it is."

Elena couldn't see what he was referring to in the still dim light but, after a few more minutes, she could make out a small dot in the distance. The dot slowly grew until she could see that it was a rather large house. It stood a few hundred yards away from the road, and when they reached the graveled drive in front of it Damon parked behind a black car. Elena stayed still in her seat, looking up at the house. The curtains were drawn in all the windows, giving it an unwelcoming look.

"Are you going to just stay in the car?" Damon asked after a couple of minutes. "Because that would sort of defeat the entire purpose of our trip."

"I need to gather up some courage," she replied. "What if he doesn't want to see me?"

He could understand why she was worried, but didn't think she needed to be. "I'm sure the reason he didn't ask you to come up here is that he was worried you'd freak when you actually saw him," he told her.

She gave him a hopeful look. "You really think so?"

"Only one way to find out."

He got out of the car and went around to open her door and, after another moment of hesitation, she got out as well.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and half-pulling her up the few steps to the porch. Before she could change her mind, he knocked on the door. Though they would of course already know that someone was there.

It was Anna who opened and, when she saw that it was them, a wry smile appeared on her face. "I thought you two might show up sooner or later. I guess sooner it is." She stepped back to let them in.

Damon pulled Elena along into the house and Anna closed the door behind them. "Jeremy, you have a visitor," she said over her shoulder, not raising her voice. He would hear her.

It only took him a moment to appear in the doorway to what Elena guessed was the kitchen. When he saw her, his eyes widened. "What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding more surprised than angry.

"I wanted to see you, silly," she replied, taking a few steps closer. She wasn't sure what was OK when it came to physical proximity, but he surprised her, moving too fast for her to be able to see and pulling her into a hug before she could even react.

"I've missed you, sis," he mumbled, squeezing her a little too tightly. But she didn't care.

"I've missed you too, Jere."

They stayed like that for a moment, Elena reveling in the fact that it still felt the same, he still felt like her brother. There was something different about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on … The way he moved was a little more graceful, it seemed like he had to try hard not to move too fast, like just a moment ago, and every movement seemed well-judged. But these were insignificant changes that she would get used to.

When Elena pulled out of the embrace, she was surprised to find both Anna and Damon right next to them, seemingly prepared to intervene if they needed to.

"I'm fine, guys, don't worry," Jeremy assured them, and she realized that they had been worried he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to bite her.

Anna answered the question Elena didn't ask. "He's been doing great with the people in town, but he hasn't been that close to a human before," she explained. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't ruin his perfect track record."

"Oh." Elena wasn't sure what to say to that.

"How about you and I go outside for a while?" Damon suggested, directing his words at Anna. "The whole family reunion emotional crap really isn't my thing."

Anna readily agreed and, moments later, Elena and Jeremy were alone in the house.

"Come on," Jeremy said, gesturing towards the room he had come from earlier. "We can't just stand around."

He led her into a large, country-style kitchen – the room was well-lit, compensating for the lack of sunlight – and sat down at a table. Elena claimed the seat across from him. "How are you?" she asked earnestly when they were both sitting down, reaching out to take his hand. It was crazy, she knew that – he was probably about a thousand times stronger than her now – but she still felt the need to protect him.

"I'm good, really," he replied with a quick smile. "I won't repeat everything I told you in the e-mail, but I am good. You don't have to worry about that."

"I don't," she told him, but then changed her mind. "OK, so maybe I do. It's so good to see you, now I can make sure that you really are OK."

He nodded, a tense expression appearing on his face. "How's Jenna?"

Elena looked down at the table. "Not so good. I think she blames herself."

"You can't let her think like that!" he exclaimed.

"It's not that easy!"

"I know, sorry I yelled at you," he quickly apologized. "Everything's a little intense right now, I overreact a lot."

"Let's not talk about Jenna," she suggested. They could discuss that later. "I brought you a present." She pulled the ring out of her pocket and put it down on the table between them. Curiously, Jeremy picked it up.

"Is this what I think it is?" he asked, voice awed, turning the ring over in his hand carefully, as if worried he might break it. And, she realized, he probably could.

"Yep. Damon got Bonnie to spell it for you," Elena confirmed. "Go ahead, try it on."

Slowly, Jeremy slipped the ring onto his right middle finger. "I don't feel any different," he said, glancing at one of the windows, which was covered by thick curtains, with a turn of the head so fast that Elena barely caught it.

"Damon made sure it worked, but maybe you should test it before you go outside," she advised.

Nodding, he got up from the table and went over to the window, standing to the side and opening a crack in the curtains carefully, suspiciously. Even after only a couple of weeks, he had learned to fear the sun. Experimentally, he held one hand in the weak daylight that now seeped into the room. When nothing happened, a smile spread on his face.

"Come on, let's go outside," he said, moving into the hallway so fast the only thing Elena saw was a blur.

She got up as well and followed him, surprised to find him waiting for her by the front door. He held out a hand to her and she took it. Then he opened the door and they stepped onto the porch together. A pale sun was shining down from the sky, and Jeremy blinked in the light.

"It's working!" Anna exclaimed, throwing herself into Jeremy's arms. He let go of Elena's hand to hug his girlfriend back.

Elena smiled at them before turning to meet Damon's eyes, a matching smile on his face as he watched her. She left her brother and Anna on the porch, going down the steps and over to where Damon was standing. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"He'll be fine," he mumbled in her ear, and she nodded.

Yes, he would be.

* * *

**AN: So this is the end of this story – thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, I'm so glad I've been able to share this with you guys! I hope you haven't gotten sick of me and 'my' characters yet and that you'll stay with me through the next sequel. I promise there will be more Delena goodness (that story will be longer than this one, so more room for some smut!) and lots of other fun stuff. Let me know if you're interested in that and I'll start posting the next story soon!**


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